– uber-productive playmaker who was productive from the moment he set foot on campus

– terrific speed

– electric with the ball in his hands

– open-field vision and creativity

– good route-runner at every level

– despite a smaller stature, played the majority of 2023 snaps as an outside receiver

– Biletnikoff Award semifinalist

– first-team All-ACC in 2023

– BC’s single-season receiving TD leader

– plays with swagger and flash

– excellent body control

– eye-popping short-area quickness and burst

– can win at the short, intermediate or deep levels of the field

– feisty and effective in contested catch situations despite size

– elusive in forcing missed tackles

– serious issues with drops

– not a natural hands catcher

– lacks ideal size

Scouting Notes: Zay Flowers was what RosterWatch co-founder Byron Lambert described as the “crown jewel” of the 2023 East-West Shrine Game as the All-Star event’s most high-profile attendee, even though he only participated in one day of practice. As you can see above, there are a lot of pros and not as many cons on Flowers’ profile. He was a productive, record-breaking superstar at BC who is impossible not to notice when watching the games. He’s a magician with the ball in his hands, per PFF forcing 15 missed tackles in 2023 (t-39th among qualifiers) while racking up a very strong 6.4 yards-after catch per reception. One of the more “fun” players to evaluate in the class, Flowers has confidence and creativity to his game that make him a constant threat to hurt opposing teams by making something out of what could initially appear to be nothing. He plays with a swagger and alpha-mentality that is uncharacteristic of a player of his smaller stature, notching a 58.3% contested catch rate, putting him close to the top-third of all FBS qualifiers for 2023. The cons come in with the aforementioned size (he’s 5-9 and 182 pounds but somehow seems smaller than that) and more importantly — it’s the drops. Byron noted from Shrine Game practice that Flowers’ hands were his main concern, and the college stats show he was onto something. In 2023, Flowers had a near-11% drop rate and that relatively concerning number fell in line with his career drop rate of 11.67% (8.3% in 2021, 11.3% in 2020 and 15.4% in 2019). There is little question, though, at the college level, that when Flowers DID get the ball in his hands, he was a certified headache for opposing defenses.

Fantasy Outlook: Flowers played two-thirds of his 2023 snaps outside, but did look just as at home in the slot, and that could be where NFL teams see him fitting in best. Whether he can hold up and dominate at the NFL level at his size — especially given the fact that Flowers is fearless and generates a lot of his production by running routes where he might get decleated in the NFL. Still, he has upside to be a dynamic weapon in the right system, and it’s appearing like he’s going to have significantly high draft capital (there has been some first-round buzz on him) to really elevate his dynasty stock. In early dynasty rookie drafts, he’s a safe player to prospect on in the second-round of traditional 1QB formats, and could be a player we see rise to that muddled 1-2 turn area with continued success through the process and a favorable landing spot.