Although he hasn’t gotten noticed by many of the attendees of training camp, according to coaches, it looks like slot receiver Ray-Ray McCloud is an early winner through the first four sessions at St. John Fisher. During Brian Daboll’s training camp press conference on Saturday, the offensive coordinator was asked about Josh Allen’s improvement from year one to year two. Unprompted, Daboll brought up McCloud as another example of a player that had made huge strides since his rookie season.
Daboll said Josh Allen isn’t the only second year player that’s improved over the offseason. Mentioned WR Ray-Ray McCloud as well
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) July 27, 2019
Improvement from McCloud isn’t entirely unexpected, since he was a running back coming out of high school and was either never taught or never challenged by Clemson’s staff to run any complex routes. He never had more than 500 receiving yards in college, while being stuck behind colleagues Deon Cain and Hunter Renfrow. According to ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques, now that he’s a pro, McCloud has the time to concentrate on training at his offseason home in Florida.
Caught up with Ray-Ray McCloud after practice today, who Daboll mentioned as a player who's improved this past offseason.
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) July 27, 2019
The second-year WR out of Clemson said he spent the off-season at home in Florida, and being in that environment helped him... https://t.co/Y2JZlygq0D
The 5’9”, former Clemson product is ostensibly competing with Isaiah McKenzie as the primary backup to starting slot receiver Cole Beasley. McKenzie’s first couple days of training camp have gone unnoticed, so McCloud may have a leg up on the veteran so far. Both players are likely competing for the final wide receiver slot behind John Brown, Beasley, Zay Jones, Robert Foster and Andre Roberts. Bills fans will need to stay tuned however, the preseason games have a way of shaking up any preseason competitions.