After two consecutive impressive seasons at Liberty University, Antonio Gandy-Golden says his playing style might be a perfect fit for the Baltimore Ravens.
In 11 games for the Flames in 2018, Gandy-Golden posted 1,037 receiving yards, 71 receptions and 10 touchdowns. But dropped passes plagued his junior season, which led to an offseason for Gandy-Golden focused on improving his hands. In 2019, he finished the season with 79 receptions, 1,396 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.
Gandy-Golden says he now feels like he’s one of the best receivers in this year’s NFL Draft.
“I feel like I’m one of the best pass-catchers in this in this year’s class,” Gandy-Golden said on Glenn Clark Radio March 26. “I have a big catch radius. I feel like I high-point the ball very well [and] can catch in traffic. I feel like I can make a catch pretty much anywhere on the field, whether it be one-handed, two-handed or over somebody.
“I had minimal drops this year, as opposed to previous years. I worked on that this offseason and I had a bunch of targets this year and I had a bunch of catches. I had very little drops, I think I had three or four.”
Although Gandy-Golden stuffed stat sheets in 2018 and 2019, he has taken pride in the effort plays that do not always show up in the box score since his days at Paulding County High School (Dallas, Ga.). Now 6-foot-4 and 223 pounds, Gandy-Golden has always played an aggressive style of ball.
At Paulding, Gandy-Golden put together numerous accolades in four years. During his sophomore year, he recorded 355 receiving yards and a touchdown. As a junior, he posted 891 receiving yards and five touchdowns. During his final season at Paulding, Gandy-Golden finished with 1,083 receiving yards and five touchdowns.
Though he received numerous accolades based on his performances, Gandy-Golden remembers all the blocking he had to do as an underclassman.
“In high school, I had kind of like a triple-option type offense from freshman year to sophomore year. So basically, I was out there, and we barely got the ball as receivers. I was out there blocking in the trenches,” Gandy-Golden said.
“I love blocking. Getting to knock somebody down and be able to make a play for your team and help your teammate maybe spring a long run or maybe hold up for the quarterback a little bit longer, whatever it may be it helps as a whole and it’s fun,” Gandy-Golden added.
Although he finished his season with a 1,000-yard season, Gandy-Golden says he did not have much technique as a high school wideout.
“I didn’t really have much technique in high school because I didn’t have to. Football was just super fun for me,” Gandy-Golden said. “So I just kind of went out there and did it. I took it seriously, but I didn’t really have any super-formal type of training as far as receivers.”
Gandy-Golden didn’t receive a ton of interest from college programs, which led to him committing to Liberty University (Lynchburg, Va.), where he strung together two consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons in 2018 and 2019. Gandy-Golden credited the coaching staff for helping him improve his technique.
“When I got to college it was a whole new aspect,” Gandy-Golden said. “These coaches have been coaching receivers for years and/or football for longer than I’ve been alive. They took me under their wing and really taught me a lot and I came out on top.”
Coming out on top now means preparing for the NFL Draft which is slated for April 23-25. He participated in the Senior Bowl and the NFL Scouting Combine, running a 4.60 40-yard dash in the latter. He’s expected to be a mid- to late-round pick.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, scouts and players aren’t able to meet in person, but Gandy-Golden says he has been in touch with them via text and FaceTime calls. Most schools are closed, but Gandy-Golden has been able to work out and train at Liberty’s facilities by himself, which he says can be “weird.”
Although this experience so far might be unusual, Gandy-Golden says getting drafted will be super exciting.
“I’m super excited [because] all the hard work is about to pay off,” Gandy-Golden said. “I’m just thankful for everybody who has helped me up to this point. Glad to see I can make it to the next level and kind of pay them back and show them everything they put into me, has paid off.”
Gandy-Golden thinks he could be a good fit for the Baltimore Ravens, too.
“I definitely fit. I feel like the Ravens would definitely be a good fit for me just as far as [blocking and being physical] goes,” Gandy-Golden said.
For more from Gandy-Golden, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Liberty University Photography