The Cleveland Browns made a trip down I-71 South for their fifth round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft as they added the University of Cincinnati running back Jerome Ford to their team. This year, they could turn back to the Bearcats for another need at wide receiver in the 2023 NFL Draft and target Tyler Scott.
The Browns need to get more explosive vertically and need to add more nuance that is separate from the skillsets of the wide receivers currently on the roster. While the Browns got good production out of their unit in 2022, especially considering the unorthodox quarterback situation the team was in last season, they need to add a dynamic playmaker to the unit.
Enter Scott.
Get to know Tyler Scott
A former three-star recruit out of the Akron area, Scott chose Cincinnati over Power-Five schools like Indiana, Iowa State, Michigan State, Nebraska, Rutgers, and Syracuse. He was a three-sport athlete in high school, playing both basketball and being a sprinter on the track team as well. He has burned a sub-11 second 100-meter dash and a 200-meter dash time of 21.39 in high school as well.
His breakout started with Desmond Ridder under center in the Bearcats’ playoff campaign in 2021, where Scott racked up 520 yards and five touchdowns on just 30 receptions. With the graduation of Alec Pierce, a second round pick of the Indianapolis Colts, Scott’s role expanded in 2022. Despite poor quarterback play, Scott still racked up 899 yards and 19 touchdowns on 54 catches. He averaged nearly 17 yards per catch during his career at Cincinnati.
A true junior, Scott will be under the Browns’ age guardrail, as his production and testing metrics will make him a prime candidate to be high on their draft board by the time the 2023 NFL Draft rolls around.
He possesses burners deep down the field
Already clocked with a 4.29 40-yard dash, Scott has the potential to blow up the NFL Scouting Combine and rise up 2023 NFL Draft boards. And this speed shows up on tape as Scott can burn any defensive back he lines up against.
Once he beats defenders deep, Scott is well-equipped to stack them and track the football at a high level. He understands how to hide his frame and how to flash late hands to keep defensive backs from getting a target to play through.
After the catch, Scott has absolute burners to break angles in the open field and take any catch to the house. A lethal weapon with the football in his hands, Scott has the potential to grow as a weapon in the screen game and as an extension of the run game (even if it is not on his tape at Cincinnati).
A twitched-up mover with lossless change of direction
Having game-breaking speed is one thing, but being able to control his body and throttle his tempo up and down is a gift. And Scott possesses this gift.
It allows for Scott to get in and out of breaks with suddenness and without taking added steps to throttle down. He is a twitchy mover who runs a full route tree effectively. This allows for Scott to toy with the hips of defensive backs and manipulate himself into blindspots to create added separation. His tape is a highlight reel of freezing cornerbacks where they stand with his ability to stem and break suddenly.
This shows up after the catch as well as Scott is slippery with the football in his hands. With the tendency to make men miss in the open field, Scott is a hard man to get hands on as he can cut on a dime and change directions without losing any speed he has built up.
This is what separates him from speedy receivers like Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt and Princeton’s Andrei Iosivas, who are both more linearly explosive but struggle to get out of breaks or change directions efficiently.
What are the weaknesses to his game?
While Scott is electric, explosive, and slippery on the field, there are reasons why he is not a consensus top-five receiver in this class. Like most in this smaller-built wide receiver class, Scott struggles to play through contact. He has limited looks against press-man coverage but shows room to develop his ability to use his hands working down the field and at the top of his routes to create an added cushion of separation.
This lack of ability to play through contact shows up with his hands as well. While Scott possesses the hands to go up and get the football, his hands have proven weak when taking on contact immediately after the catch. The windows are going to get smaller at the NFL level, so he is going to have to adjust to expecting contact and has to develop the hands to maintain possession of the football.
How Scott fits in with the Browns
While the Browns have a top-notch running game and got solid production out of wide receivers Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones, it is very easy to see this offense lacks explosive plays through the air. The Browns were bottom-ten in passing plays over 20 yards in 2022 and bottom-seven in plays over 40 yards a season ago.
2021 third rounder Anthony Schwartz is going to be on the fence about making the roster this summer, and the Browns do not have another receiver who can threaten the deepest part of the football field. Scott can be this playmaker for the Browns, and not only that, his route running nuance and understanding of how to work the hips of defensive backs gives Scott the ceiling of a true WR2 in this offense.
Even with perhaps the best running back in the game on their roster, the Browns are going to live out of the shotgun, and are going to maximize their potential out of 11 personnel (one back, one tight end looks). The Browns need a consistent third receiver that can do something that neither Cooper nor Peoples-Jones can do.
Scott has the potential to be that guy.
Final thoughts on Scott and his 2023 NFL Draft outlook
Scott remains a bit of an unknown at this point, but he could see his stock soar inside the top 50 by the time late-April rolls around. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler has him ranked as his seventh-best wide receiver, behind the likes of Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt and Southern Methodist’s Rashee Rice.
I am a bit more bullish on Scott, who ranked as my personal sixth-overall wide receiver in the class. Brugler has mocked him as high as 44th to the Atlanta Falcons, so if the Browns want this speedster’s services they will likely need to use the 42nd overall pick to land him.
Who knows? By the time the NFL Scouting Combine happens and Scott tests off the charts, he may be well out of their reach when the draft rolls around. For now, the Browns should have Scott firmly on their radar as they come on the clock in the second round.
