Tennessee Titans: One dark horse WR prospect to watch for in the 2023 NFL Draft
One of my favorite prospects in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft is Boston College wide receiver Zay Flowers, who is quickly becoming a dark horse to be one of the first receivers off the board. Flowers is taking his final Top 30 visit of the pre-draft cycle with the Tennessee Titans on Monday night, and […]
One of my favorite prospects in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft is Boston College wide receiver Zay Flowers, who is quickly becoming a dark horse to be one of the first receivers off the board.
Flowers is taking his final Top 30 visit of the pre-draft cycle with the Tennessee Titans on Monday night, and he may be the exact player Tennessee needs in their offense.
What does the Titans wide receiver corps need more than anything else? Playmakers that can create separation and be dangerous after the catch. That's what Treylon Burks and Chig Okonkwo both already do exceptionally well, but something the Titans did not get out of Robert Woods, Nick Westbook-Ikhine, and others in 2022. Adding Flowers brings some versatility and yet another separator into the mix.
Flowers is undersized, sure, but even at 5-foot-9 and 182 pounds, I'm far less concerned about his size translating to the NFL than I am Tank Dell, Josh Downs, or other receivers of the same profile in this class.
There may not be a better route-runner in this draft class than Flowers. He's got 4.42 speed with fluid hips and quick feet. Flowers gets out of his breaks with efficient movements and good leverage to separate from his defender, and maybe most importantly, he moves with purpose.
Flowers doesn't just have the speed and agility to create separation, he's a cerebral player that knows how to best manipulate a defender's position and take advantage down the field.
Flowers' 1,077 yard, 12 touchdown senior season at Boston College would have been even more productive with a more accurate quarterback throwing him the football. Flowers accounted for 36.3 percent of all Eagles receiving yards and 57.1 percent of the team's receiving touchdowns in 2022.
Criticisms against Flowers are his obvious lack of size, his arm length (29 1/4’’), and inconsistent hands, but given Flowers' ability to separate in the second level, size and length are far less important than they are in your prototypical wide out. His drops can be frustrating at times, but his ball skills in traffic actually shine quite a bit on tape.
The Titans need creators. They need another wide receiver that can get open from anywhere on the field and run any route with precision. Flowers is versatile enough to line up either in the slot or on the outside opposite of Burks and side-step press coverages.
In my opinion, the only thing that should be standing in the way of the Titans drafting Flowers is his current draft stock. Picking him as high as 11th overall would be quite a reach on Tennessee's part, but with all the buzz that he's gotten in the pre-draft process, I'd be shocked if Flowers didn't wind up being a first round pick. I certainly wouldn't bet on him being available at pick 41.
With 11 and 41 off the table, perhaps trading down in the first round is the scenario where Tennessee gets Flowers. If Ran Carthon and Mike Vrabel are as bullish on Flowers' fit in their offense as I am, they may be more inclined to trade out of the number 11 pick knowing they can still select a highly impactful wide receiver in the mid-late teens.
Flowers is officially my dark horse to land in the Music City, and if he does, Titans fans are going to be in for a treat.
