BJ Bunn providing boost to Soul’s depleted receiving corps

BJ Bunn looked comfortable alongside the Soul’s top two receivers, Lonnie Outlaw and Darius Prince, on Saturday. In light of the team’s depleted receiving corps, Bunn surprised many in the Soul’s 47-35 win over the Columbus Destroyers.

“BJ has done a lot of great things, but he has a lot of vets in front of him,” Soul coach Clint Dolezel said. “He’s only going to get better. He has really strong hands. He has really powerful legs and still there’s so much he’s got to learn, but he’s learning at a fast pace.”

With Aaron Wascha still not cleared to play, Bunn has become a reliable second/third option for the Soul, who will host the Washington Valor at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center in an Arena Football League matchup of 3-3 teams.

After last week’s five receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns, Bunn says he hasn’t felt any increased pressure to live up to that performance. He says Dolezel hasn’t asked him to do anything he isn’t accustomed to doing.

“Pretty much, just do my job if I'm in motion. Line up right,” Bunn said. “He just wants me to play my game.”

Bunn is a rookie who played in college at North Carolina-Pembroke, a Division II program. With Saturday being his first AFL start, he said he has soaked up everything this week from veterans, including quarterback Dan Raudabaugh, Prince and Outlaw. In his past experiences, he says, guys haven’t necessarily been welcoming to the younger players, but that’s been different with the Soul.

“Just from Day 1 of camp, it’s been great,” Bunn said. “They like to teach."

Dolezel was happy to hear that because he had designed this team around nurturing the young guys. He says when injuries happen, he wants the younger guys to feel comfortable asking questions.

“My vets are my coaches, too,” Dolezel said. “They help the guys to get better. They make us better by talking to them and giving them their experience to the game. Explaining why we do things ... why we don’t do things.”

Until Wascha returns, Dolezel says he wants to use Bunn in a similar way to last week.

“His role is what it is,” Dolezel said. “It all dictates what the defenses run. A lot of the times, it’s on who has good games and who catches a lot of balls based on coverages.”