Washington Redskins Ryan Grant putting in a good practice

Washington Redskins rookie wide receiver Ryan Grant received some nice praise from head coach Jay Gruden earlier this offseason, and I can’t help but feel that the fifth-round Tulane rookie could end up being the team’s No. 4 wide receiver to start the season. Pierre Garcon and offseason additions DeSean Jackson and Andre Roberts are locked in as the top three wideouts in Washington, but the No. 4 job is an open competition among Aldrick Robinson, Grant, and perhaps the likes of Santana Moss and BYU rookie Cody Hoffman.

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According to the Redskins official Twitter account, Grant is in the midst of an “impressive practice” today, and it sounds like he’s been making good plays throughout training camp, based on the tweets I’ve been following from the account over the past few days. Per the official site, Grant “has caught several passes”, including a play in which he needed to create separation in order to come down with a difficult catch.

Grant understands more about running an NFL route-tree than most fifth-round rookies from small schools, and he’s locked up a roster spot for himself with his strong work throughout the offseason. His understanding of the game puts him ahead of some of his peers, because WR isn’t an easy position to get a hold of when first coming into the league. Grant won’t make much of an impact as a rookie, but he should be a quality backup wideout and has the ability to play inside or outside. His lack of speed makes praise for creating separation all the more important, because he makes up for his lack of speed by running clean routes.