The case for for drafting WR Zay Flowers

[scott99]

Hear me out. Zay Flowers is exactly who the Pats need to help this offense go to another level. He’s not just a shifty slot receiver, he can play on the outside as well, is an excellent route runner, and just has that burst of speed you just can’t teach. He can take a 10 yard slant the distance.

I think about the kind of mismatches Bill O’Brien could come up with Flowers, and I drool. An offense with Flowers and Smith-Schuster in the slot, Parker and Thornton on the outside as your 4 receiver set. Great speed from Flowers and Thornton, size and strength with Smith-Schuster and Parker.

Flowers is also someone who LOVES the game, and was a captain at Boston College, something Belichick loves. I think Flowers can be a #1 receiver, not just a slot receiver. Only the 4th Boston College receiver ever to gain 1,000+ yards in a season.

A pass catching offense of Flowers, Smith-Schuster, Parker, Thornton, Bourne, Henry and Gelicki could be quite explosive. I think he’s too good to pass up. So good, that I don’t want to trade down, and possibly miss out on the chance to draft him. Grab him at #14.

 

[Water Boy]

Phil Perry interviewed the coach of BC about him. He’s a high character guy.

I think I’d be fine with him at 14 as well.

 

[Steve102]

 

[jboston19]

He was offered about $600k to transfer schools and stuck with BC out of loyalty and, hopefully, a love for the area. I’d love to see him continue on here.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

So, good thoughts. Don't read this as a reflection on your ideas or a post of any value but...

Anybody else read that we should draft a given wideout, who reacts with "what do you have against the poor guy?" As in, us drafting a receiver high effectively ends his glory days...

It's just a conditioned reaction

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

Was saying on another thread
Watching videos on all the potential Pick14 players. I keep coming back to Flowers.
He gets open immediately and can make a short pass a long gain. Good hands.
I’m in. But I do want a small trade down

 

[stinkypete]

Was saying on another thread
Watching videos on all the potential Pick14 players. I keep coming back to Flowers.
He gets open immediately and can make a short pass a long gain. Good hands.
I’m in. But I do want a small trade down

From a value standpoint, #14 is a reach, about 5 - 10 too slots too high depending on who you ask. Then there is the risk of another team coveting him. Green Bay, Pittsburgh, LA and Baltimore could all conceivably take him.

One of my favorite draft scenarios has us moving down a few spots, picking up a 3rd, drafting Flowers, then packaging the 3rd with our 2nd and a 4th to move back up and draft Harrison or Wright at the bottom of round 1.

 

[Triumph]

If you're a Mac Jones fan then WR is the # 1 pick.

Other teams find studs and they play on cheap rookie contracts.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

He had pedestrian Combine numbers. 4.42 for the 40 and he did not run the 3-cone or 20-yard shuttle which is suspicious. I did not see much niftiness on the field like I did for QJ. I cannot see Zay as a first round selection. The Patriots could gamble that he is round in in the second or third.

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

From a value standpoint, #14 is a reach, about 5 - 10 too slots too high depending on who you ask. Then there is the risk of another team coveting him. Green Bay, Pittsburgh, LA and Baltimore could all conceivably take him.

One of my favorite draft scenarios has us moving down a few spots, picking up a 3rd, drafting Flowers, then packaging the 3rd with our 2nd and a 4th to move back up and draft Harrison or Wright at the bottom of round 1.

Pete
There is nothing Stinky about that scenario

 

[PatsFan2]

He had pedestrian Combine numbers. 4.42 for the 40 and he did not run the 3-cone or 20-yard shuttle which is suspicious. I did not see much niftiness on the field like I did for QJ. I cannot see Zay as a first round selection. The Patriots could gamble that he is round in in the second or third.

Fred since when is 4.42 pedestrian? So by your take we could get JSN in the Fifth because he ran slower than Flowers: wait we don't have a Fifth Rounder.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

Fred since when is 4.42 pedestrian? So by your take we could get JSN in the Fifth because he ran slower than Flowers: wait we don't have a Fifth Rounder.

Eight guys ran faster than him at the Combine, mostly in the 4.3 range. 16 other WRs ran in the 4.4n range. 9 CBs ran faster than him. 4.42 used to be special but not anymore.

But the 3-cone is probably more relevant for a WR and JSN is head and shoulders above anyone else in the 3-cone. Zay Flowers elected not to run the 3-cone which make me think that his 3-cone was pedestrian enough so that his agent told him not to run it at the Combine.

Sure Zay Flowers is probably a great character guy and gives great interviews, but I would hate to see the Patriots use a first on him...or a second. I think (but what the hell do I know?) that JSN is worth a pick at 14...but we all know what will happen; the Patriots will try to get cute and trade down and hope that JSN will still be at 21 or whenever. Don't count on it!

 

[Username]

He had pedestrian Combine numbers. 4.42 for the 40 and he did not run the 3-cone or 20-yard shuttle which is suspicious. I did not see much niftiness on the field like I did for QJ. I cannot see Zay as a first round selection. The Patriots could gamble that he is round in in the second or third.

Just out of interest, what is your definition of nifty? Because that is a very strange comparison to make, in a draft full of small, shifty slot receivers, you're comparing him with one of the few big, outside receivers. It's not like for like, I mean, I'd understand if we were comparing AT Perry and QJ, or Zay Flower's with JSN or Addison...

 

[Ras-IR Dowling]

Will he be available in r2?

Would like to get our OT first and go from there.

 

[patsfanfromoversea]

Eight guys ran faster than him at the Combine, mostly in the 4.3 range. 16 other WRs ran in the 4.4n range. 9 CBs ran faster than him. 4.42 used to be special but not anymore.

But the 3-cone is probably more relevant for a WR and JSN is head and shoulders above anyone else in the 3-cone. Zay Flowers elected not to run the 3-cone which make me think that his 3-cone was pedestrian enough so that his agent told him not to run it at the Combine.

Sure Zay Flowers is probably a great character guy and gives great interviews, but I would hate to see the Patriots use a first on him...or a second. I think (but what the hell do I know?) that JSN is worth a pick at 14...but we all know what will happen; the Patriots will try to get cute and trade down and hope that JSN will still be at 21 or whenever. Don't count on it!

JSN is mostly a slot WR which puts more value on his 3 cone and shuttle than his 40.
If you want to use zay flowers in a different way than i would value his 40 more than his 3 C
I personally wouldn't touch any WR at 14, if i had to decide for one WR than i would only choose JSN because i think he can easily be a 70-80 rec/1000 yards guy in our offense and move the chains, get mac some "easy" completions and provide YAC

 

[Patsgofor4]

He had pedestrian Combine numbers. 4.42 for the 40 and he did not run the 3-cone or 20-yard shuttle which is suspicious. I did not see much niftiness on the field like I did for QJ. I cannot see Zay as a first round selection. The Patriots could gamble that he is round in in the second or third.

 

[Water Boy]

Will he be available in r2?

Would like to get our OT first and go from there.

He won’t make it out of the first IMO. Chris Simms has him ranked as his No1 WR in the Draft FWIW.

 

[Water Boy]

Will he be available in r2?

Would like to get our OT first and go from there.

It will be interesting to see the Pats Draft strategy. Last year a starting LG was a glaring need and it’s safe to say they reached for their guy to fill the need. There were a couple of other guards who came off the board ahead of him in the first so they probably felt the drop off after Strange was pretty steep.

I assume they will take a similar approach. If the OTs start coming off the board early they may have to reach and get their guy at 14. Ideally I’d like to see them trade back in the first and trade up in the second.

 

[PowerRunRevival]

He had pedestrian Combine numbers. 4.42 for the 40 and he did not run the 3-cone or 20-yard shuttle which is suspicious. I did not see much niftiness on the field like I did for QJ. I cannot see Zay as a first round selection. The Patriots could gamble that he is round in in the second or third.

You shouldn’t ignore context when you compare Zay and Johnston. Johnston played in one of the best offenses in the country with great spacing that regularly gifted him one on one coverage. Zay played with a bad QB, and one of the worst offensive lines in the country. Zay was double covered or covered with safety help over the top on every single play.

I’m not really a Johnston fan, he catches with his body and doesn’t run sharp routes. He was breaking loose while catching shallow crossers because the defenses he played against were so spread out, at 4.50 speed, I don’t think that translatable to the NFL unless he’s playing with the Chiefs or Eagles.

Zay has more tape of shaking defenders in short areas and creating extra yards in a phone booth which will absolutely translate.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

I watched some Zay highlights and like what I saw. He is really nifty with the ball in his hands. He has a lot of Barry Sanders type moves, at least against college DBs. Has he played much against the top SEC CBs?