One of the most dominant weapons in the ACC, Boston College wide receiver Zay Flowers is looking to turn his breakout season into draft stock as he enters the 2023 NFL draft.
Here is everything you need to know about the Eagles playmaker:
Vitals
Height: 5-10
Weight: 172
Class: Senior
Strengths
An electric receiver who excels in both route running and yards after the catch, Zay Flowers had his best year yet with the Boston College Eagles. He hauled in a career-high 78 catches, for 1,077 yards, and twelve touchdowns, all of which were career highs for the Senior.
Flowers is as smooth and developed as a route runner as they come, easing into his routes with clean feet that move in tandem with his body to maximize his burst in and out of breaks to leave defenders dazed and confused by his quickness and effectiveness. He leans well into his routes to sell double moves and is equally as smooth in that transition on comeback routes or dig routes. His true separation comes at the breaking point of the routes, where his body control and feet kick in to accelerate distance from his defender and detach from coverage.
He is also exceptionally dangerous after the catch; Flowers is one of the better open-field runners in the class, using that same shiftiness and body control to twerk himself out of tackles and make quick cutbacks or subtle body movements to contort himself into open space where he can explode for big gains. His stop-and-start momentum are a result of his burst and excellent balance, and makes him a true threat as a chunk play receiver at the next level.
Weaknesses
Zay Flowers does not possess the ideal size, arm length, or hand size for the position. As such, his transition into the NFL has been put into question. While he possesses great body control to locate the football and adjust his body to attack it, there has to be some concern that he will not simply be bodies out down the field by bigger, faster, and lengthier defenders in the NFL. This has also led to drops and makes him less than ideal on contested catches at the next level.
He will need to get with strength trainers to fill out his frame more and add playing strength to help him secure those 50/50 balls, but aside from that his size and length will remain a question mark going into the draft.
Projection
Zay Flowers is one of the best receivers in college football, he is a dangerous, methodical, and explosive route runner who can take any catch the distance with an elite level open field tool box. He is ready to go day one with an excellent route tree and understanding of the position, and will be a dynamo with the ball in his hands. His size and frame will come into question on draft night, but if he were two inches taller and a little longer, he would likely be the unquestioned wide receiver one of this class. He will still make an immediate impact in this league and a team is going to get an instant starter when they draft the weapon from Boston College.
Projection: Top 40 Pick
