The most exciting player at Carolina Panthers' rookie minicamp this weekend wasn't a rookie. It was a "veteran" who also happened to be the smallest guy on the field.
But receiver Damiere Byrd, who's still listed at 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds, isn't as diminutive as he used to be.
"I think about eight pounds," says coach Ron Rivera when I ask him for the biggest difference between the "new" Byrd and the speedster who initially turned heads at last year's rookie minicamp.
"You guys should ask him about that. He'll love the fact that you guys would mention he looks bigger."
On it.
"I put on about eight or nine pounds," Byrd tells me, likely holding back a smile.
While most in their mid-20s battle to keep weight off, the 23-year-old Byrd is in a bizarro world. In addition to his role on the practice squad, part of his job the past year was to put on pounds. He's now close to seeing 185 on the scale, putting him in the same weight class as fellow second-year wideouts, Seattle's Tyler Lockett and Indianapolis' Phillip Dorsett.
It's not like Byrd is suddenly a beast, but he showed off his added muscle when outbattling cornerbacks at minicamp. Most importantly, the weight didn't appear to affect his elite speed.
"He's going to be someone to reckon with," says receivers coach Ricky Proehl.
That could just be coachspeak, of course. But Proehl doesn't tend to wax poetic when it's not warranted. Besides telling Byrd he needed to bulk up, Proehl preached about attacking the ball better.
On Friday and Saturday, at least, Byrd did.
"It's crazy what a difference one year makes," he says. "Being out here for a second year, it really kind of puts the veteran role on us."
It's strange to think of a player who's never played in a regular-season game as a veteran, yet there Byrd was at the front of every receiver drill. A guy like Keyarris Garrett, last year's NCAA's leader in receiving yards, had the greater intrigue and asix-inch advantage, but his place was behind Byrd.
"He assumed a leadership role out here, which was really neat to see," Rivera says. "Very rarely do you see a wide receiver step up like that, but he did a nice job."
While this weekend was a boost for Byrd, he's still on the outside looking in for a spot on the Panthers' 53-man roster. He'll head into OTAs behind Kelvin Benjamin, Devin Funchess, Ted Ginn Jr. and Philly Brown. With Brenton Bersin, Stephen Hill, Kevin Norwood and Garrett also in the mix, the numbers aren't in Byrd's favor.
"If you get caught up in the numbers game, it's never gonna go in your favor," he counters. "You never know what's going to happen. You never know how the numbers will shift. You never know how many we're going to take into the season.
"If you just worry about playing the game and playing well, then they can't deny it."
Fair point.
OTAs, minicamp, training camp and three and a half months remain before the Panthers decide on their final 53. Plenty can happen before then, including Byrd possibly playing his way into bigger plans than most had previously assumed.
"His speed and quickness, his confidence coming back another year with the development that he had last year and where he is now, he's a totally different player," says Proehl.
"He's going to make some noise this offseason."