First off, how have the OTAs and your first camp gone? What surprised you most?
Nothing really surprised me. The whole process – nothing was surprising. You have to be ready for everything throughout the draft process as it is. But the one thing that remains is its football – 11 guys on each side. The terminology is very different and I’m learning something new every day, like different coverages I’ve never seen. So I’m learning to adjust to what I’m seeing.
But it’s all been fun – I love competing and learning. It challenges you to get better every day.
Any early mentors so far – how have they helped?
I like the wide receiver room – the older guys like Chase and Diontae – new guys like Gunner and Antmill (Anthony Miller) – they coach us up and help us. We all worked hard and competed but they helped us.
And I talked a lot to the defensive guys. That stood out to me. The defensive guys really helped me – showing me how to do this or that. I showed them that I had speed – they knew that. But guys like Sutton and Maulet – they’d tell me stuff even though I will be going against them in practice. I respect that.
Anything specific they showed you so far that’s helped?
I can’t even pick just one guy or thing, All the guys helped.
But one example. At camp, i saw Gunner back there on kick returns pick up some grass and throw it up to see which way the wind was blowing. I’ve seen guys do it but it was never stressed to me by coaches. You could tell he’s been there and knows those nuances. Now that I’ver seen him do it that’s something I’ll start doing. It’s little things like that.
Were you surprised to be drafted by the Steelers – what did they tell you when you spoke to them?
I was somewhat surprised. My agent told me the team you don’t expect will be the team that takes you. I did have a great talk with Coach Fris (Frisman Jackson) at the combine. When I got the call from Coach Tomlin he he asked me what I was doing. I told him I was watching the draft and he told me I didn’t have to watch it anymore – they were drafting me! When I saw my name in the screen it was surreal.
I was in shock after that call. I am blessed to go to one of the best organizations in all of sports. It’s a dream come true.
How did running track help you in terms of your NFL game?
One thing is the mental toughness. Track is an individual sport – there’s nowhere to hide. Your time is your time. The work you put into it is what you get out of it.
And, the speed of course – helping with that.
With a young wide receiver room – who have been the leaders and what does that youth do for that room?
It’s a young room but there are a lot of guys who have made a lot of plays. That sometimes means more than how many years someone has played. Competition is the nature of the game, but no one is unwilling to help. We’re all confident in our own ability. You can’t control everything as a player but we’re all confident – we all help one another. We all want to go out and kill the defense and other teams. I want us all to ball out. And when the opportunity comes to make a play, we all just have to be prepared.
What about the offense excites you – how do you see yourself fitting in?
There’s a lot of different positions – a lot of movement. It’s an easy offense to get the ball in the hands of a lot of different guys. I don’t see myself as a guy who fits in one role – I’m not that type of player. I can do a variety of things and contribute in a variety of ways – outside, inside, in the backfield – I can be moved anywhere.
Are there any similarities between the Memphis and Steelers offenses that you’re seeing so far?
Ah..no! Not at all! This offense is definitely different – one of one.
What are your favorite routes/plays?
As a wide receiver – any play that gets the ball in my hands is what I like the most! I like jet sweeps and shallow routes, post and go’s, crossing routes, deep overs… everything!
If you look at your game – where would you like to improve most and what would you say are your under-rated strengths?
To improve – my route-running. I haven’t run these types of routes before – ever. Now that I know them, I just need to work on them and the timing. I just need to feel comfortable with them enough to add my own style to them.
As for what is overlooked about my game, I’d say my jump ball ability. I know people look at my size and think I wouldn’t be able to go up and get the ball, but I can do that well. I’m sure I’ll have a chance to show that sometime soon.
You did some punt returning at Memphis with success – 25 returns and two touchdowns – is that something you’d like to do in the NFL and why didn’t Memphis have you do more of that?
It’s something I definitely look forward to doing. It was something I was able to do in college – sometimes you get those big-legged punters who out-kick their coverage and that leads to return opportunities. At Memphis I got less opportunities as a Senior just because they wanted to keep my usage down. As the main guy on offense they wanted to protect me, but I’d be glad to do it in the NFL.
All that talk about size yet you haven’t let that ever limit you. What about you has made size a lesser issue and how does that translate to the NFL?
My mindset is – I look back at every incompletion, pass breakup or any play where I didn’t get open and watch that film. It’s always the details – my release, something mid-route, second-level releases – it’s always something I know I needed to execute better on. It had nothing to do with my size – my size was never a reason why a pass was broken up or why I was covered.
With my God-given abilities – there’s no one who is both quicker and faster than me that could stop me.
I know some people talk about press coverage in the NFL. Well, I went against the top corners in college football and had success. It’s hard to answer questions about my size really because I never gave it a thought.
It’s more of a technique thing for you?
Exactly. It’s always been about technique, not about size. Some see being undersized as a hindrance but God blessed me with these tools – to run fast, be quick and explosive, to jump high and get in and out of breaks quickly.
What does success year one look like for you?
It looks like I’m contributing in whatever role they have me play. One of the other more underrated things about me is that I’m the biggest team player there is. People told me I should write down my dreams and goals, but I haven’t done that. I’m always where my feet are. Every day I’m learning the playbook and executing better. I can’t even think about the preseason. I’m thinking one day at a time.
Lastly, what should we know about you that has nothing to do with football?
That I love God with all of my heart. God is the reason I’m here. I’m far from perfect – I have many areas to work on. One is that I want to be more vocal about the impact of God on my life. God is the reason I’m here today. I went from a walk-on in college to be drafted in the NFL. I’m just humbled by this opportunity and am thankful to God. I didn’t do this on my own. This was God’s plan. I have people around me that helped guide me to this point.
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