MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Jaden Bray didn’t come to West Virginia specifically to play special teams.
A redshirt junior wide receiver with 677 receiving yards over two-plus seasons at Oklahoma State, Bray is hoping to be a calming veteran influence on the Mountaineers’ younger wideouts, while showcasing a skill set that has earned no shortage of praise from the coaching staff in the lead-up to his West Virginia debut.
“What drew me here was the people and the culture,” Bray said. “They have a great thing going here and I wanted to be a part of that. I really like the room we have.”
Bray figures to be a pivotal part of the Mountaineers’ passing attack, particularly considering he’s proven at this level from his time with the Cowboys. Last season was Bray’s most productive yet when he caught 30 passes for 382 yards and two touchdowns over 10 games.
“Still a lot of newness to it for him, but he’s a freak athlete,” WVU wide receivers coach Bilal Marshall said. “One thing I love about the man is he just plays so hard every snap. He lays it on the line for these guys. You can cover up a lot of things when you play with high effort.“
Yet for as impactful as Bray hopes to be offensively, he will almost certainly have a chance to make his presence felt on several special teams units as well.
“I’m excited about him as a football player,” said WVU head coach Neal Brown, “and he’s going to be one our better special teams players.”
Bray and fellow wideout Hudson Clement are working as kickoff returners, and while the hope is that Bray will add an element to the team’s passing attack, what he’s provided covering kickoffs and punts had made the head coach take closer notice.
“He ran 21-plus miles per hour the other day on a kickoff. That’s special,” Brown said. “He’s really good at the gunner on punt. He’s going to be elite at that. He used his body well on offense. He made a couple red zone plays where he went up and used his length. Those are some real positives for him.”
Bray has experience on the punt and punt block teams from his time at OSU, but looks primed to take on an expanded role for the Mountaineers’ special teams units.
It’s a discussion that came up when he was in the mix for a new home after announcing his intention to transfer in December of 2023.
“They told me every main guy here plays special teams. I’m completely fine with that,” Bray said. “I’m on a couple special teams this year and when I’m in those roles, I’m going hard at those.”
There won’t be near the splash or glamor from covering kickoffs and punts as what comes with hauling in a touchdown pass — something Bray managed to do last year during the Cowboys’ 48-34 victory in Morgantown when he finished with four receptions for 53 yards.
But filling the role of a quality gunner still presents an opportunity for Bray to make an impact, while aiding the WVU defense in the process.
“If I get a fair catch and it’s deep, we’re just getting the defense ready. I’d rather make a play and have the better chance for a defense to make a stop,” Bray said. “Same thing with kickoff. Just trying to get there and make a stop for the defense, because kickoff is the first play for the defense.”
That special teams prowess has a chance to pay dividends for Bray in the present and future, according to Brown.
“He has a really good chance to be a NFL player,” Brown said. “Special teams are important and I look at it from the players perspective sometimes, too. We want to have the best special teams units we can and we don’t want to do anything to hurt our football team, but we also want to put guys in position to put stuff on film. That’s the hope for him is some of these opportunities on special teams, from a scouting perspective, the guys at the next level are going to be impressed and that’s going to help him.”
At 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, Bray’s surplus of speed is unique for someone his size.
His stature and quickness help make him a threat on the perimeter, which he hopes to showcase early and often in his Mountaineer tenure for what Bray believes is a plenty formidable receiving corps.
“Everybody in that room has something that another receiver can’t do, which is a good thing, because we can all feed off that and learn,” Bray said. “We have so much depth in that room and it’s great just being great around those guys.
“Of course we’re competing with each other and you’d think there would be some animosity built up, but it’s not. Everybody is honed in on being better every day and working, and everybody gets excited when somebody else makes a play. You never see anybody’s head down or anything like, ‘I was open and I was supposed to get that.’ We’re all celebrating and trying to be better, because we all have a common goal at the end of the season to be Big 12 champion.”