Jaden Bray is in his first semester with West Virginia, but through two spring practices his impact is being felt.
Ask almost anyone around West Virginia football who has been noticeable during the first two practices of spring and the same answer keeps getting mentioned — Jaden Bray.
Bray is a transfer from Oklahoma State, coming to WVU in January.
“He’s explosive, he looked really good today. Looks fast, he’s a big guy, he’s experienced, catches the ball really well, plays really hard. He looked good today. He flashed today big time and he’s had a phenomenal offseason as well,” West Virginia offensive coordinator Chad Scott last week said of Bray after WVU’s first spring practice.
Bray spent the last three seasons at Oklahoma State and was one of the big pickups for the Mountaineers in the transfer portal. Bray caught 30 passes for 382 yards and two touchdowns last season with the Cowboys.
Neal Brown was high on Bray through the first couple days of spring practice. Brown said he was able to notice a jump from day one to day two for Bray, noting his humility this offseason as well.
“The things that’s really impressed with me, he’s extremely humbled. He’s had success at Oklahoma State. He knows that he’s capable and talented enough to have a lot more success and he’s came and he’s really worked, extremely hard. He’s a natural ball catcher, he’s a really good football player. When we do special teams, he does some things on our coverage units that a lot of wideouts don’t do,” Brown said.
Lining up across from Bray and the offense is safety Aubrey Burks. Burks praised Bray’s play early, saying his speed flashed big time.
“He kind of pops of the charts to me, the two days I see him at receiver. I was like, that can be a guy right there,” Burks said.
Burks added there was a play in practice last week where he could see Bray take things up a notch.
“He caught a screen and I was on the other side of the field, but he cut it towards my way. I could see the change when he was running, okay, he’s got some wheels on him,” Burks said. “I’ve seen a couple of those one-on-ones through film and stuff like that. Just watching him, see how he gets out of his routes and everything, out of his cuts. I really like that.”
Photo by Wesley Shoemaker
