Zay Jones   WR   East Carolina

TALENT
ROUND
1

STRENGTHS
Zay might be the smartest and savviest receiver in this draft. He runs routes like a veteran NFL receiver always changing gears and setting up his man. He can move the chains and go deep and will be your franchise receiver, the type you build your passing game around. Zay reminds me a lot of Larry Fitzgerald. He has those big cartoon hands that make it easy for him to catch the ball in any kind of weather. He is stronger than he looks and has the ability to not only adjust to the ball in the air but contort his body when in the red zone to score touchdowns. He has quickness that shocks you when he runs his routes because of his smooth stride and that quickness makes it easy for him to separate when he wants to. He’s impossible to stop when he plays against zone coverage’s and because of his football intelligence and street smarts is just as difficult to cover him in single coverage. Zay can play in the slot because he is a good blocker and he can play out wide because of his excellent route running. He can be physical and knocking him off his routes and redirecting him just allows him to adjust his route and get open. Zay is the real deal and if you’re looking for a franchise receiver to build your passing game around you should be looking at selecting Zay at any point in this draft.

CONCERNS
Zay has to keep getting stronger in his lower body to add to his overall game and to gain yardage after the catch. He is very mature but will have to prove he can handle success as well as he handles adversity because monetary success is about to hit him right in the face.

BOTTOM LINE
If you’re looking for a clone of Arizona Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald you found him in Isaiah (Zay) Jones. Now most experts are going to down grade Zay because of the level of competition or the offense he played in or the lack of pure speed or any other dumb ass reason they can think of just because he went to East Carolina. It’s all BS. The truth is as we all know you can find a good receiver any were in a draft. Great receivers have to be able to catch the ball in traffic while contested and going over the middle with a safety ready to take their head off their shoulders and hand it back to their parents. That is truly the difference between a good receiver and a great receiver. The rest is all a bunch of crap because the rest can all be learned if the player can catch the ball and, has the guts to go over the middle. Zay will catch any contested ball, running any route, from out wide or in the slot, against any style of defense, any place on the field for any down and distance. My guess is unless Zay runs better than a 4.4 in the combine look for most teams to think about selecting him in the 2nd or 3rd rounds but believe me, the team that does select him in any round has themselves a hell of a football player who can catch the ball with those big cartoon hands over the middle, while being contested, with a safety ready to take his head off and hand it back to his parents. For me, I would not hesitate to select him in the 1st round but that’s just me.

Drew Boylhart  FEB.2017