Scouting report: Titus Young, WR, Boise State
Titus Young Scouting Report after the jump
Titus Young is one of the fast risers in this draft because of his success at the Senior Bowl.
Senior Bowl Weigh in-information:
Height: 5112
Weight: 174 pounds
Hands: 9
Length: 31
WingSpan: 73 1/8
Titus Young is a slender man without massive hands, which could concern some teams, but the five yard rule eases some of the worries he might have had if he were a prospect twenty years ago.
Route Running–
Titus Young is a good route runner who is aware of his surroundings and can not only beat a man with his route running from the get-go, but can also slip and sit into an open spot in zone coverage. As rare explosion and suddenness along with excellent body control to shake defenders off of him and create the separation needed to come back to the ball or to take it over the top.
Catching:
Young doesn’t have the big hands of a player like Hakeem Nicks, but he has soft hands and catches the ball away from his body, still because of his hand size will drop some catch-able passes at times. Is also willing to go up and get the ball, but doesn’t have the size/strength to body up most corner backs, so he doesn’t always come down with the ball when he contests.
One area where Young excels at catching the football is deep, over the shoulder while running in the stride, he can do that very well.
The other thing Young does is fumbles. Though he improved on that this year going from 6 in his first 16 games to one this season.
Release off line of scrimmage-
Titus Young is very quick off the line of scrimmage to get into his routes. He’s hard to hit off the line, and if a team is going to press Young you can have success. But if you miss him off the line of scrimmage few corner-backs will have the ability to recover in time before Young is open.
Whether or not Young is willing to go over the middle might be in-material because of his size he could take a pounding going over the middle.
N.F.L. attributes
Athleticism
Elite athleticism on the field and may play a lot faster then he times at the combine (to be determined though). Right now 40 yard-dash-times.com reports a 4.48 40 yard dash, which is not fast.
CBS draft scout says that Young has a “personal best 40 yard time of 4.35” and plans on cutting down his 4o yard dash time into the 4.2 range.
Production
Young was very productive this year. Racking up 1215 yards receiving and 9 touchdowns and also had another 600 combined return yards and 94 rushing yards.
In the two games vs ranked opponents (teams that ended the season in the top 25) he performed well.
6 catches for 80 yards no touchdowns @ Va Tech and
6 catches for a 129 yards and a touchdown @ Nevada
Intangibles
There are some concerns in this area as well.
From cbsdraftscout.com
“Titus Young was once so deep in Chris Petersen’s doghouse that just seeing the football field again was going to be an accomplishment”, but that he eventually seemed to mature, where there might not be those same issues anymore.
Maturity is an issue.
Player Potential
High End: DeSean Jackson. I think think this the easiest and most common player comparison you will everywhere and hear from analysts as we move towards the draft. This is because they have very similar skill sets. Jackson and Young both have good speed and are instant deep threats as well as shifty and productive return men. On top of that both have shown to have maturity issues, and both are slender built players, but are exactly the same size (essentially). Jackson was listed at 6′ 178 pounds, while Young, at the senior bowl, was 5’11+ and a 178 pounds. I also think that Young’s stock is going to be helped by Jackson’s seamless transition into the N.F.L.
To give another comparison I’ll say Santana Moss. A fast shifty player who is a deep threat because of his speed.
Low End: Sinorice Moss. Where Santana Moss was able to excel in the N.F.L. Sinorice Moss struggled. Moss has the same kind of athletic ability and talent that Jackson and his brother have, but it hasn’t turned into anything. I don’t like to do player comparisions of players who bust because everyone has the possibility to bust.
Still, while speed does kill in the N.F.L. and size is his less important in a WR then it used to be because cornerbacks aren’t given the same lee-way in their physical play vs WR. A lack of size is still something that must be overcome in the N.F.L. Young has all the potential to be a DeSean Jackson kind of player, but could also turn out to be much worse then that.
If you want a comparison of a player who is not a complete bust: a Laverneous Coles: Coles had a few good season and was fairly productive over the course of his career with his blend of speed and quickness, but he never had more than 7 touchdowns in his career and only three seasons over a 1,000 yards.
Final Word
I think Titus Young will wow some people at the combine and will be taken in the first round, which is fine value to me. Because he has an excellent blend of straight line speed and shifty-ness and on top of that he is a polished route runner for his experience. If he goes to a team with good QB play or good WR coach he could really excel as a complete WR and return men. I think a surprise team that people aren’t considering for Young is the New England Patriots who really could use a deep threat to help really set their offense apart, and on top of that Young has some Y.A.C. ability which is important for the Pats. They also are not that focused on size or physical play (see Grant, Moss, Welker, Tate).
Leave your thoughts:
What kind of player do you think Titus Young will become in the N.F.L.?