Zay Flowers draft profile: Star WR a surprise top 30 visit for the Cowboys
By Noah Weber
Wide receiver was one of the Dallas Cowboys’ biggest needs going into the offseason.
Noah Brown wasn’t a true wide receiver three and Michael Gallup wasn’t the same player coming back from his ACL injury. Dallas needed to give Dak Prescott more weapons to be more competitive, and they did just that.
The Cowboys made their biggest move of the offseason by trading a fifth-round pick to the Houston Texans for Brandin Cooks. Prescott now has a new weapon with six 1,000-yard seasons under his belt.
But Dallas could be looking to add even more talent to the receiver room as they hosted former Boston College star Zay Flowers for a visit Monday at The Star. Could Flowers be a Cowboys star for years to come?
That remains to be seen, but the former Eagle has several intriguing attributes that would do wonders for Prescott and Dallas’ offense. With the Cowboys suddenly showing interest in Flowers, let’s underline some of the player’s strengths and how he might fit in Mike McCarthy’s offense.
Boston College WR Zay Flowers is on a Top 30 visit with the #Cowboys today, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 3, 2023
Cowboys 2023 Draft: Zay Flowers’ Strengths
1. Ball skills
Zay Flowers’ two best skills are his ball skills and big play ability.
The 5-foot-9 receiver’s ball skills are top-notch for his size. He made countless catches with defenders all over him, has excellent concentration, and makes toe-drags on the sideline with ease.
No ball is out of reach for Flowers and he doesn’t seem to ever give up on a play. He does a great job of coming back to the ball and even can go get jump-balls when needed. These elite ball skills are uncommon for a player his size and the Cowboys could have a steal if he falls to the No. 26 overall selection.
2. Big play ability
Flowers combination of speed and ball skills makes him a big play waiting to happen. He uses his speed to separate from defensive backs and has the ball skills to make contested catches over defenders. In 2022 alone, Flowers had five games with over 100 yards and totaled 12 touchdowns, and had at least one reception of 25 yards in 11 of the 12 games he played.
Flowers isn’t a deep-ball receiver by trade, but he has the ability to take the top off of defenses and deliver explosive plays after the catch. He’d make the Cowboys’ receiving corps one of the best in the league.
3. Yards after the catch
Flowers was one of the shiftiest receivers in college football last season and is an elite playmaker in the open field.
He makes people miss in the open field often and has the speed to turn typical in’s and out’s into 50-plus yard touchdowns. If there’s green in front of Flowers he has the chance to go score, as he averaged 6.4 yards after the catch per reception and forced 16 missed tackles last season, according to PFF.
Final thoughts
Zay Flowers would be an excellent fit at WR3 for the Cowboys and would make their wide receiver room more scary than it already is after the Cooks trade. He has some of the best big play ability in this year’s draft both at the point of and after the catch. He’d be the perfect wideout to complement Cooks and CeeDee Lamb, as he is capable of lining up out wide (337 snaps in 2022) or in the slot (166 in 2022), per PFF.
Will Flowers have a Cowboys star on the side of his helmet in 2023?
