RICHMOND VA – Wide out Cody Hoffman continues to impress in his first NFL training camp. His size (6’4″, 210lbs.) is obvious when you see him on the field but the thing that really stands out is his hands. He has a natural ability to take the ball out of the air and this could be a valuable asset for a team when they get inside of the redzone.
Over the last four days the young wide receiver — who holds virtually every record at Brigham Young University — has demonstrated that he can pick up an offense and has firmly entrenched himself as a problem in the making; a problem specifically that the coaches are going to have to take a good, hard, look at him as one more option at wide receiver.
New Redskins head coach Jay Gruden comes from a Cincinnati Bengals’ offense where three of its top four pass receivers (A.J. Greene – 6′ 4″, Marvin Jones – 6′ 2″ and Mohamed Sanu – 6′ 2″) were the large prototypical receivers that many teams around the NFL clamour for. Hoffman is the Redskins’ largest receiver and, with teammate Leonard Hankerson (the only other receiver of similar stature) on the PUP list, Hoffman can capitalize on the opportunity.
If today is any indication, the rangy receiver has shown the hands and surprising seperation needed to contribute to this team. On two plays in particular, he had a nice catch on a post route to the deep middle of the field. It showed that, with his size, he could present match-up problems with linebackers who would have to drop back in coverage. On the other play, he caught a well-thrown pass from backup quarterback Kirk Cousins on a go route — streaking down the sidelines in what would have been a touchdown were they playing a regular season game.
I asked him how he was progressing and whether everything was starting to click.
“Yeah. I felt that the other day,” he replied. “You know, it’s one of those feelings where everything clicks and it starts feeling good. And you start playing with more and more confidence and you get more comfortable and everything so it happened to me the other day and as time goes by it gets better.”
I mentioned to Hoffman that Gruden was used to coaching those aforementioned large receivers in Cincinnati and asked him how that might help him here with the Redskins.
“I feel like I may be a red-zone threat possibly,” he said. “Just being the biggest receiver, using my body to my advantage, and just going up with strong hands. I feel like I do stick out a little bit in the open field but in the redzone I think that’s where I shine.”
Learning from the Redskins’ record-breaking receiver Pierre Garçon and newly signed, uber fast, Pro Bowler DeSean Jackson could be intimidating to a young player trying to make a name for himself. But Hoffman embraces the chance to play with and learn from the pair.
“It’s great playing with them you couldn’t ask for a better receiving core right now,” he explained. “If I have any questions then I’ll ask them and I, you know, I just kinda do what they do… just learn from them and get better everyday.”
His knack for using his height and hands were a topic of discussion as well.
“I feel like it helps me a lot,” Hoffman commented. “Growing up, I was always taught to use my hands and I think that helped me a lot in college [to] set records. And so I’m just gonna keep doing what I do best, keep using my hands and make every play I can.”
If Hoffman continues his development under the eye of the Redskins new coaching staff, this is a player that, in the worse case scenario, would be on their practice squad. As of today, I don’t see that being a possibility because his game and talent has “53-man roster” written all over it.
I knew Cody would do well. BYU has put a few great pass catchers into the NFL lately.