Zay Flowers Scouting Report

By: Michael Higgins

(Image courtesy of Maddie Malhotra/Getty Images)

School: Boston College (Senior)

Position: WR

HT: 5’9

WT: 182 lbs

Sideline Prospect Ranking: #16

Zay Flowers is an extremely dynamic wide receiver. Flowers was a 3-star recruit and elected to join Boston College out of high school. Coming from a big family, Flowers is used to having to compete for what he wanted, and he did just that. As a 3-star freshman, Flowers earned significant reps and never looked back. Despite shaky quarterback play all throughout his college career, Flowers was able to showcase his abilities as a top receiver in the nation. His ability to perform with less-than-ideal quarterback play is due to his dynamic after-the-catch playmaking. Flowers is an extremely quick and slippery runner. He is able to make any defender miss in the open field. He is extremely creative with the ball in his hands and can cut through defenses with a variety of moves that he consistently breaks out. Flowers has a lethal spin move that he uses in open space, which he uses effectively to either break free or extend himself for a couple more yards. Zay Flowers has an innate ability to accelerate unlike anyone else while also maintaining high speed once he accelerates. He can accelerate and get to his top speed after his first step and from there he is the fastest man on the field. Flowers is the best pure runner at the wide receiver position in this year’s draft, with elite balance and elusiveness it is hard to bring him down. He is light on his feet and has great footwork. His strong lower half allows for him to have that elite balance to stay on his feet. He uses every inch of grass to his advantage, gaining yards by running vertically and horizontally around defenses. While Flowers is a smaller receiver, that doesn’t limit his ability to make contested catches. Flowers has a contested catch rate of 58.3%, which is fantastic for his frame. Flowers demonstrates great process in terms of making a catch. He accepts the ball in a fluid and natural motion, while also displaying late hands. On deep balls, Flowers doesn’t slow down to make the catch, he keeps pace and accepts the ball smoothly.

Zay Flowers’ weaknesses come in the form of inconsistency. He has a drops issue that is something to monitor. However, I am willing to place partial blame for the drops on the hands of the quarterback. If you are a big proponent that size matters for wide receivers then you could knock flowers for his smaller stature, but as I said, he plays bigger than his size suggests.

It seems as if Flowers is flying under the radar and I really think he will be a gem. While his speed is amazing, he also has other qualities that make up a great receiver and I believe he can be a boundary receiver at the next level.

Scheme Fit: Spread with plenty of pre-snap motion

Ideal Role: Z-receiver

Best Team Fits: BUF, LAC, TEN

Player Comparison: Jaylen Waddle

Player Grade: 86.8