ALLEN PARK -- All aboard the Kenny Golladay hype train.

The Detroit Lions' third-round pick has been turning heads since he joined the club in the spring, and already looks like he could be an impact player from the get-go. On Sunday, he showed exactly why during a devastating performance in red-zone drills.

Absolutely devastating.

First he used his 6-foot-4, 213-pound frame to beat rookie corner Teez Tabor on a slant. Now it's true that Tabor has taken his fair share of lumps in camp, but given Golladay's size and speed -- he comes out of his breaks really quick -- the slant was practically indefensible.

Take Golladay's next rep, for example. This time he was working against Nevin Lawson, a fourth-year corner who has been around the block a few times and is having a good camp. And the rookie did the same thing, using a quick break to separate on a slant, then extending his long arms for the ball -- a relatively easy play to complete, even though it was well-defended.

"Me being that big body, I got to come down with the ball," Golladay said. "Not a lot of corners are my height. They're going to be shorter than me, so I got to make that play when my number is called."

And that's exactly what he did the next time his number was called.

Tabor was back in coverage, and this time he saw the fade coming. And there still was nothing he could do. Golladay caught the ball over the top of him anyway, and got both feet down for another score.

For those scoring at home, that's three red-zone passes from Matthew Stafford. Two were well-defended, including one by a starter. And Golladay scored on every damn one of them.

Choo-choo.

"I think he's going to be a beast," Lawson said. "He's still a rookie, he has a lot to learn, but one thing you can't teach that he has is just going and attacking that ball. (On that TD he scored against me), it was just the release that he did, and him being able to go and get that ball. He's just so good at going and attacking that ball."

Lawson's right to say Golladay has a lot to learn. He is still a rookie, after all, and one that hails from the MAC (and the FCS before that). He's raw in certain areas. Some of his routes need work. He needs to figure out how to read corners. And a lot of stuff like that is difficult to learn in a non-live setting. We'll know a lot more after the joint practices with Indianapolis later this week.

But the evidence is mounting that Golladay is ready to contribute immediately alongside Golden Tate and Marvin Jones. And that's especially true in the red zone, where Detroit scored a touchdown just 54.2 percent of the time last year. That was 17th in the league.

Part of the problem was Detroit's anemic running game, which did them no favors as the field shortened. But part of the problem was also not having targets who can go high-point a football. Tate is a great receiver, but that's not his bag, and Jones disappeared all together down the stretch.

But this Golladay kid looks like he could help. Right now.

Chad Ochocinco watched one day of practice, and he saw it, tweeting that Golladay has the "it" factor.

"That was great. I almost want to call him one of the GOATs, you know?" Golladay said. "Me and him talked after, and he told me I have a bright future, and to just keep working hard."

Ochocinco likes to talk, of course, but even the typically reticent Jim Caldwell betrayed a smile when asked about Golladay.

"Every day he shows you a little something just in terms of his characteristic ability to catch the ball," Caldwell said. "He's long, obviously. He's a good target. But he's also got a real wide catching radius, so all over the field we can use him.

"The other thing, oftentimes you'll find guys that are long, that are long striders, that don't get it going pretty quickly. But he can run. ... The No. 1 thing that you got to have is speed, and he can run. So that in itself will set up a lot of other things. But I think you'll see him get to the point too where he's starting to kind of back guys in the corner with his height and ability to jump over the top and things of that nature."

Choo-choo.