![\"Tyren](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/maxresdefault-e1775200770661.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHeavy\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
John Carroll University wide receiver Tyren Montgomery. <\/p>\n
The sad truth about the Washington Commanders<\/a>\u2018 offense is that if the team is truly going to succeed in 2026, then it\u2019s going to have to be done with someone who probably isn\u2019t even on the roster right now.<\/p>\n Fortunately for the Commanders, there is 1 position in the NFL<\/a> draft where impact players are coming along more often than at any time in league history. That position is wide receiver.<\/p>\n So, if the Commanders aren\u2019t smart enough to use the No. 7 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft on a wide receiver, there might still be an option in the later rounds who could make an incredible impact.<\/p>\n That player could be NCAA Division III All-American wide receiver Tyren Montgomery, who has exploded onto the draft scene in recent months and has 1 of the more unusual paths to the NFL in recent memory.<\/p>\n \u201cTyren Montgomery has been UNGUARDABLE through two Senior Bowl practices,\u201d NFL Draft Files wrote<\/a> on its official X account on January 29. \u201cStandout WR from D3 John Carroll is playing his way into top 100 consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n How Tyren Montgomery Became NFL Draft Prospect<\/p>\n Montgomery, a native of The Woodlands, Texas, didn\u2019t play high school football \u2014 he was a high school basketball star who ended up walking on the men\u2019s basketball team at LSU in 2019.<\/p>\n He dropped out of LSU after 1 semester and, at the urging of his brother<\/a>, decided to try out a football career, gathering highlights in various flag football leagues until Nicholls State gave him an opportunity in 2022.<\/p>\n Montgomery sat out the 2022 season as he worked out various eligibility issues and finally played his 1st season of football, ever, in 2023 and had 12 receptions for 171 yards. Unfortunately for Montgomery, his NCAA eligibility had run out at that point.<\/p>\n Through 1 of his flag football connections, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Montgomery landed at Division III John Carroll in University Heights, Ohio, where he put up consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons the last 2 years. That was 57 receptions for 1,071 yards and 20 total touchdowns in 2024 and 119 receptions for 1,528 yards and 16 total touchdowns in 2025.<\/p>\n Denied an invite to the NFL scouting combine, the 25-year-old Montgomery tested out at the University of Toledo\u2019s Pro Day<\/a> with a 35.5-inch vertical leap, 10-foot, 8-inch broad jump, and a 4.53-second 40-yard dash \u2014 the same time as projected 1st round pick and Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate<\/a>.<\/p>\n NFL Teams Thriving With Rookie Wide Receivers<\/p>\n Of the Top 5 rookie receiving seasons in NFL history, 3 have happened since 2020. That includes the NFL rookie record in 2023 from Los Angeles Rams<\/a> wide receiver Puka Nacua<\/a> with 105 receptions for 1,486 yards.<\/p>\n That\u2019s even more notable because Nakua was a 5th-round pick (No. 177 overall) out of BYU \u2014 around where Montgomery is liable to be selected in the 2026 NFL draft.<\/p>\n \u201cA late-blooming Division III standout with intriguing upside, Montgomery has good size and length in the slot,\u201d NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s still learning his craft and should become a more refined route-runner if he gets more time. He was highly competitive in Senior Bowl one-on-ones and appears very comfortable in 50\/50 catch spots. His age, timed speed and lack of short-area explosiveness could hurt his draft slotting, but he should find his way into a camp. He will need to replicate his Senior Bowl week to prove he belongs in the NFL.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTony Adame<\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Commanders\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heavy John Carroll University wide receiver Tyren Montgomery. The sad truth about the Washington Commanders\u2018 offense is that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":850996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2069],"tags":[427,7,6,855,111,2480],"class_list":{"0":"post-850995","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-commanders","8":"tag-commanders","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-washington","12":"tag-washington-commanders","13":"tag-washingtoncommanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116339763733060267","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=850995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/850996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}