Film study – Wide Receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden

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May 27, 2020

by Steve Thomas

This is the third edition of my 2020 draft pick film study series.  I’ve already done the following rookies:

Next up is wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden, who the Redskins selected with the 36th pick of round 4, 142nd overall, out of Liberty University.

Background

Gandy-Golden, who stands 6’4” and is 223 pounds, hails from Dallas, Georgia, which is a small town outside of Atlanta. He is experienced and was highly productive in college, having played 44 games in four seasons for Liberty, with a total of 231 receptions for a school-record 3,722 yards, for an average of 16.1 yards per reception, and a school-record 32 touchdowns.  In 2019, he made 70 receptions for 1,304 yards and 9 touchdowns.  He is the most productive receiver ever to come out of Liberty University by several different measures.

At the NFL Combine, Gandy-Golden ran the 40 yard dash in an unofficial 4.6 seconds, did 22 bench press reps, ran the 20 yards short shuttle in 4.55 seconds, the 3 cone drill in 7.33 seconds, and jumped 36 inches in the vertical leap and 10’7” in the standing broad jump.

Gandy-Golden is known for his intelligence and wide variety of interests, including gymnastics, juggling, and the Rubik’s Cube, among many other things.  He was reportedly diagnosed with COVID-19 in March, 2020, but only had mild symptoms and has since fully recovered[1].

Film Analysis

Games studied: Liberty vs Syracuse, New Mexico, and Virginia (full games), plus some highlights from Rutgers, Buffalo, and BYU.

As I always say in these film studies, I am not a professional scout.  I’m just a regular person with a football fetish, so you’re forewarned.  Take my observations for what you will.  #notascout.

Gandy-Golden has unbelievable hands and catch radius

Most people have seen at least some of Gandy-Golden’s highlight reel catches.  The truth is that he has fabulous hands and a huge catch radius, and those two features are what allows him to make the big plays that everybody’s seen.  Watch this short clip series:

The first clip is from the Virginia game – Gandy-Golden high points the ball and makes a spectacular one-handed catch in the end zone akin to a catch the best NFL receivers might make.  Take note of his catch radius – he has long arms, and at 6’4’ with a 36 inch vertical leap, he can snag balls beyond what most receivers can reach.  Couple that with great hands, and what you have is a unique skill that only a few NFL receivers possess.  In the second play, against Rutgers, he makes yet another one-handed grab in traffic for a touchdown.  The third play, which is from Liberty’s game against the University of Buffalo, is more of the same – he high-points a ball and makes a one-handed catch in traffic (this time, a yard short of a touchdown).  Play #4, also against Buffalo, is another demonstration of Gandy-Golden’s catch radius.  The pass seems unnecessarily high, but it’s possible that the quarterback knows that he’s placing the ball where only Gandy-Golden can get it.  The fifth play, from the BYU game, shows a slightly different skill – note how he makes a solid two-handed catch and is able to get both toes in-bounds, per NFL catch rules.  In the next play, against the University of Virginia, Gandy-Golden makes a diving, two-handed catch falling out of bounds.  In the final play (from the New Mexico game), he is able to come down with an off-target ball in the middle of coverage.

It’s worth noting that many of his fabulous catches were due to passes that were often grossly inaccurate.  The Liberty quarterback was celebrated in his own right, but in terms of what Gandy-Golden can expect in the NFL, he was woefully inadequate.

The executive summary of all of these plays is that while Gandy-Golden has outstanding hands and a catch radius, he also has a good knack for timing   These are very valuable talents that can allow him to be highly productive for the Redskins.

He has great strength by receiver standards and uses it

The other thing that Gandy-Golden is known for is his strength – he routinely uses his body strength to beat tackles and earn significant yards after catch.  Check out this series of plays (Gandy-Golden is #11 in all plays):

In each of the first three plays, against Syracuse, Buffalo, and New Mexico, Gandy-Golden physically drags defensive backs 10 yards or more downfield for significant yards after catch.  This most likely isn’t something that will ever happen in the NFL, or maybe not even against top NCAA competition, at least not to this extent, but it nonetheless shows just how strong he is by receiver standards.  Gandy-Golden keeps churning his legs, which is something that coaches teach to running backs from an early age, but not normally to receivers.  Notice that in the fourth and last play, against New Mexico, it takes 3 defensive backs to drag him down.  He may not be able to drag NFL defensive backs like this, but Gandy-Golden isn’t going to just meekly go down upon the first hit after a catch, and that is going to result in extra yardage for the Redskins.

He makes outstanding use of his body and size

Gandy-Golden isn’t just about highlight reel catches and dragging defensive backs down the field.  He’s also learned to use his body to muscle his way into catches.  He’s a big receiver, and he plays big.  There have been other Redskins receivers who were Gandy-Golden’s size who didn’t understand that their best asset was their size.  He doesn’t have this problem.  Watch this next series of clips:

Notice how in each of these three plays Gandy-Golden turns his body into the throw to box out the defenders and allow himself to be the only one with a chance to catch the ball despite a crowd and in some cases multiple defenders literally hanging on him.  With this kind of talent, could be great over the middle on crossing routes in the NFL.

He is versatile and can run the full route tree

Liberty principally used Gandy-Golden as an “X” receiver on the outside, but he did line up in both the slot and as the “Z” on occasion.  He is capable of running the entire route tree, although deep fly patterns probably aren’t his highest and best use.  These are the patterns and formations he ran in the next set of clips (in most of these clips, the ball does not go to Gandy-Golden, so pay close attention to where he’s lined up; I just used these plays as examples):

#1 – Drag: Trips right, outside receiver (the “X”); drag route

#2 – Flag or deep square out: Twins right; Gandy-Golden is the “X” on the left side; he runs either a flag route or a deep square out (it’s hard to see) and is directed by the quarterback.

#3 – Buttonhook: Twins right; he is the inside receiver on the line of scrimmage; runs a buttonhook / comeback but then goes vertical, again at the direction of the quarterback.

#4 – Fly: Twins right; he’s the outside receiver on the right side (what I would call the “Z”); runs a 9 route (i.e., fly route) deep in what appears to be a simple clearing action.

#5 – Out and up: Twins both sides; he’s on the line of scrimmage, inside right; he either runs a planned short out and up or a square out that he chooses to turn vertical.

#6 – Flag: Twins right; Gandy-Golden is in the slot and runs a deep flag route.

#7 – Out route: Trips right; he’s the inside receiver on the line of scrimmage (i.e., the “X”); he runs an out route as the underneath outlet valve.

#8 – Vertical: Trips right and single receiver left; Gandy-Golden is the inside receiver on the line of scrimmage (i.e., the “Z”); Gandy-Golden runs a short vertical route from the 15 yard line into the end zone.

As you can see, he can run a wide variety of routes, albeit with a varying degrees of success. Notice on the third play that he only turns vertical after the quarterback scrambles and directs him to go deeper, which shows good situational awareness.  Also, I intentionally used plays where he was lined up in different positions, but Gandy-Golden played the traditional “X” role far more often than anywhere else.

He is a precise route runner

Gandy-Golden is significantly more advanced as a route runner than fellow rookie Antonio Gibson.  Gandy-Golden can’t accelerate off the line at a high level, but he has good footwork and a knack for fooling defensive backs on comeback routes, in particular.  While I didn’t see a significant number of double moves from him, he can do it on occasion.  I don’t necessarily think that he’s at the level of Terry McLaurin, but that’s a pretty high bar.  Gandy-Golden does have moves and will be able to get better with professional coaching.  Watch these plays:

In the first play, from the Syracuse game, he just runs a vertical route, but manages to get the corner turned around thanks to a subtle jab-step to the outside, which is enough to get him free, even though the quarterback throws to another receiver.  In the second play, against Virginia, Gandy-Golden makes the corner believe that he’s running a vertical route, but then is able to stop on a dime and turn for the buttonhook, which creates just enough space for Gandy-Golden to get the reception.  The third play is also from the Virginia game.  Here, he’s lined up on the left side as the “Z” receiver and runs a square out.  Notice how, unlike Gibson, Gandy-Golden not only makes a tight, square break, but then also comes back about a yard or so to create enough space to get a short completion.

Negatives

Every player has weaknesses and limitations, and Gandy-Golden is no exception.  First, I get the sense from watching his film that he’s been a big fish in a small pond.  He was utterly dominant at times, but less so against division 1 teams like Syracuse and Virginia.  Some of these plays I’ve shown you in this column are the direct result of facing non-NFL quality defensive backs.  For example, Gandy-Golden is simply not going to be able to drag three-fourths of a secondary down the field in the NFL.  I think some of his success was because he was an NFL-caliber receiver playing against Division 1-AA competition.  That’s not to say that he can’t play and succeed – as I’ve said above, he’s talented – but I don’t think he will be able to dominate in the pros in the same fashion because some of his strengths will be negated somewhat at the NFL level.  His other negative is that he doesn’t have much burst off the line of scrimmage and doesn’t have great top-end speed.  Watch these clips:

These plays aren’t the greatest examples in the world, but they do show that Gandy-Golden can’t normally beat defensive backs off the line of scrimmage and doesn’t have the top end speed to outrun a defender on a deep route.

Conclusions

My overall conclusion about Gandy-Golden is that he has significant skills and can become a starter-level player, or more, in the NFL.  He has the hands, route running skills, and a catch radius that’s second to none.  He’s also a smart guy who will likely be a hard, dedicated worker.  His combination of size, strength, and hands along with his lack of speed probably makes him more suited to underneath and crossing routes rather than as a vertical threat.  Gandy-Golden could end up being the ultimate possession receiver who can move the chains and be a great red zone target.  The most important thing for him will be to make a smooth transition from a lower-level of collegiate competition to significantly better players in the NFL.

What are your opinions of this player?  Let me know in the comment section below.

 

 

[1] https://www.nfl.com/news/antonio-gandy-golden-cleared-after-testing-positive-for-covid-19-redskins