Striding to the corner of the end zone, not once taking his eyes off the football, rookie receiver Kenny Golladay dove to snag a Matthew Stafford pass with one hand for a touchdown in Wednesday's open OTA practice.
He did this all while enduring a pass interference penalty from veteran cornerback Johnson Bademosi.
The rookie got the better of the veteran on this rep. In fact, Golladay's been getting the better of a number of players in a lot of different reps over the course of the first two open OTA practices.
He's shown off a good pair of hands and a knack for getting open. It's been a good start to the OTA portion of the offseason program for the rookie receiver out of Northern Illinois.
It's only been two open practices, and the game certainly changes at this level when the pads come on and the competition heats up, but Golladay's showing early on that the transition from the MAC to the NFL doesn't seem too big for him.
"Yeah, he's one of those guys that really works at it," head coach Jim Caldwell said. "Obviously, we know he has the height and skillset to play the position, but like anything else, with a young guy he's learning."
As part of that learning curve, Golladay says he spends an extra hour or two in his room every night going over the plays with roommate and rookie tight end Michael Roberts.
The learning curve is getting smaller, according to Golladay, but he but admits he has a long way to go.
"I'm just taking everything in," he said. "We have two good vets on our team (Golden Tate & Marvin Jones Jr.) and I'm a rook just trying to follow after them."
The fact that Golladay admits he has a long way to go, and has still been one of the players who's stood out during the first two open OTA practices, has to be a good sign for the Lions.
Golladay's size (6-4, 213) brings a different dimension to this offense, and he's only going to get better the more reps he gets and the more comfortable in Jim Bob Cooter's scheme he becomes.
The back-to-back 1,000-yard receiver the last two years at Northern Illinois has an opportunity to carve out a significant role as the team looks for a third receiver to emerge behind Tate and Jones. It's a wide-open competition at this point for the remaining spots.
It's very early, but Golladay's already showing a knack for the ball, and he's taking full advantage of opportunities being thrown his way early on in OTAs.
