ROANOKE, Va. – Prior to the NFL Draft, Antonio Gandy-Golden told us he had one official meeting with a team at the combine— the Dallas Cowboys. But it proved to be their division rival, the Washington Redskins who drafted him in the fourth round.
“Honestly, I plan on coming into the league and playing right away and at least getting in the game and showing exactly what I can do, whether it be at receiver or anywhere else,” said Gandy-Golden.
Washington made Gandy-Golden just the eighth player to ever be drafted from the Liberty Flames program, something that brings joy to the 22-year-old, happy to bring exposure to a program that’s on rise.
“I feel like it definitely brings a lot more exposure to the program, not only for myself but we had four other guys get picked up by teams too, so I feel like just me and our group as a whole kind of paved the way,” said Gandy-Golden.
Washington is transitioning to a new head coach in Ron Rivera and is in need of depth at the wide receiver position to complement its young athletes, including second-year quarterback Dwayne Haskins. The team ranked dead last in the league in passing offense last season.
Gandy-Golden is hopeful he can be a spark to get the offense moving.
“It’s a good spot for me to make an impact right away to come in and play. I feel like anywhere I would’ve gone I would’ve definitely pushed to try to do that so I don’t feel like being here changed too much. But I definitely feel like I can at least play with the guys that are there. I feel like they can help me out and I feel like I can help them as well,” said Gandy-Golden.
He set the bar high in the Hill City, now only time will tell whether he can do the same in the nation’s capital.