Davontavean Martin
Tay Martin is a 6’3” 185-pound wide receiver out of Oklahoma State who was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Francisco Forty-Niners in April of 2022. Martin spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons on the team’s practice squad before being released on September 3rd, 2024. He signed with the Titans practice squad a week later and was elevated to their active roster on January 4th of this year. The totality of his regular season NFL statistics came on this 49-yard touchdown pass from Will Levis in that game:
Tay was later waived and released with an injury settlement on May 14th. After his recovery, he signed with the Washington Commanders on July 23, 2025, and shined in limited reps in last week’s preseason opener against the Patriots catching all three of his targets for 36 receiving yards. He also converted a two-point conversion in the third quarter. A tall, lanky wide receiver, Martin’s play mirrored his pre-draft profile from NFL Draft Buzz:
He is quicker than fast and lacks elite wheels to simply blow by defenders, but has good football speed.
Does not possess top breakaway speed, though he’s rarely caught from behind.
Often used on deep routes, getting separation down the sideline or over the middle on crossing routes by extending his arms rather than pure speed.
Balanced, savvy route runner with top field awareness, setting up and selling routes beautifully.
Has knack for getting open and is quarterback’s best friend-passers just need to toss the ball in his areas, and he’ll come down with it.
His RAS score indicates a well-rounded athlete with neither serious deficiency nor exceptional strengths.
He wasn’t overly productive in his five college seasons with Oklahoma State and Washington State, recording 2,810 yards and 28 touchdowns. Perhaps that is partly because his 2020 season at Oklahoma State was spent backing up current NFL wide receiver Tylan Wallace. He enjoyed a breakout his senior season, however, leading the conference with 1,046 yards on 80 catches. Martin is considered a high-character player that navigated significant adversity to get where he is today.
Despite his lone long NFL TD reception, Tay Martin is more a possession-type receiver than a true deep threat. If he claims a spot on the final roster, he will slot into a Jamison Crowder-type role on the offense.
Jontavius Braylon Sanders
Braylon Sanders is a 6’0” 194-pound wide receiver out of Ole Miss. He spent all five of his college seasons at Oxford, appearing in multiple games every season, but only starting a few every year. This was in large part due to a lengthy history of injuries. As Sanders himself put it “*Since I’ve been here, I’ve been dealing with injuries.*” As one might expect, his college statistics suffered:
Despite limited production, Sanders’ 4.48 40-yard dash and 7.65 RAS score secured him a contract as an undrafted free agent with the Miami Dolphins on April 30, 2022. Sanders was waived at final cuts and re-signed to the practice squad in August. He made his NFL debut in Week 7 versus the Lions, catching two passes for 17 yards but also losing a fumble. Sanders would end up joining the team’s practice squad again before suffering yet another leg injury in August of 2024. He was waived with an injury settlement a short time later. After recovering, he was signed by the Patriots’ practice squad in October but not signed to a reserve/future contract after the season.
In March of this year, Sanders signed with the DC Defenders and helped them win a 2025 UFL Championship. Over seven games, he caught 13 passes for 332 yards and three touchdowns, including a 76-yard touchdown catch in a Week 7 victory over the San Antonio Brahmas:
Sanders was signed by the Washington Commanders a week before the preseason opener on August 2nd. Sanders profiled much differently than Tay Martin coming out of college, from Lance Zierlein:
Has speed to take the top off of the defense
Averaged 21.1 yards per catch for his career.
Smooth release into the route.
Separation burst and hand-fighting help him stack coverage.
Capable of finding a second gear to run under deep throws.
His big-play ability helps to draw interference penalties.
Hands will catch what is thrown to him.
Showed off circus-ability with one-handed grab versus Alabama.
His biggest weaknesses listed were an extensive injury history and limited route tree, but his route running looked crisp on this 10-yard catch in last week’s preseason game.
Since the Commanders coaching staff values blocking ability in their wide receivers, I wanted to touch on the blocking prowess for both players. Draft Buzz listed it under Tay Martin’s weaknesses saying “*Walls off his man as a blocker, allowing them to shed and make the play outside.*” However in 2019, PFF rated him as the third-best blocking wide receiver in the Pac-12.
An OurLads scouting report on Sanders listed him as a physical blocker with good hand placement, but Sanders admitted he wasn’t called on to do it much in Lane Kiffin’s offense, saying that it was work in progress. It is worth watching to see if this area of their game has improved over the last couple of years.
As five-year college seniors with multiple years on NFL practice squads, both wide receivers are on the older side. Martin and Sanders are 27 and 26 years old, respectively. Since none of the veteran receivers stood out in the first preseason game - in fact, quite the opposite - the competition for the last wide receiver spot is wide open and should include both players. When they are grouped with UDFA Ja’Corey Brooks, who also performed well against the Patriots, it is clear that each of the three offers a different skill set. Brooks is a younger contested-catch specialist who answered some questions regarding his inconsistent hands with 5 catches on 5 targets in Friday’s game; Martin is a more athletic possession receiver who has already parlayed his performance into first team reps; and Sanders is a deep-ball threat. All of them have at least some experience on special teams.
It should be interesting to see which of these wide receivers has the best game on Monday night when the Commanders host the Bengals at Northwest Stadium.