There’s been much speculation about when wide receiver Chris Godwin will be ready for this season. Some say Godwin, who is rehabbing from a torn ACL, could come back during training camp. Others believe we might not see him until after the first month of the season.

One person who has seen Godwin up close and personal is fellow wide receiver Cyril Grayson Jr. And considering what Grayson’s witnessed, there’s a chance Godwin is back sooner rather than later.

Appearing on Thursday’s Pewter Report Podcast, Grayson named Godwin as the player who’s going to surprise everyone the most this year.

“I think Chris is going to surprise people,” Grayson said. “I think he’s going to be back sooner than everybody thinks. I’ll say that.”

From what he’s seen and heard, it sounds like Godwin is closer to getting back up to his speed.

“I’ve been seeing him sometimes,” Grayson said. “I heard he ran 19 miles per hour the other day.”

Bucs WR Cyril Grayson – Photo by: USA Today

That’s right around the range that receivers run during the season. As someone who was a track star at LSU, Grayson can max out in the 20s. But he said you don’t necessarily reach that speed in a game.

“Like peak, I don’t know, like 20, 22 high,” Grayson said about his top speed. “Something like that. But 19 is as fast as you need to play. You don’t really run 23 miles per hour. That’s just where you get clocked at and you’re like, alright, that’s the peak.”

When We Last Saw Godwin

Todd Bowles hasn’t given much detail on when Godwin will practice. There’s no timetable at the moment, as he’s just said when he’s ready, he’ll go. The 26-year-old receiver was seen during the first week of Bucs OTAs, but he was only there to observe.

With neither Godwin, Mike Evans or Russell Gage practicing at OTAs, it’s given a lot reps to Grayson and the rest of the team’s depth receivers. You can watch the full interview with Grayson on the Pewter Report Podcast here.