Cyrus Allen, WR, Cincinnati Bearcats: 2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report plus pro comp

The All-Star games circuit is always a fantastic place for lesser-known prospects to put themselves on the map, and few have done more to boost their stock for the 2026 NFL Draft than Cincinnati WR Cyrus Allen. A productive college tenure was capped off with standout performances at the American Bowl and Panini Senior Bowl, and he has been rising within draft media in recent weeks.

A Landry-Walker High School (LA) graduate in the 2022 recruiting class, Allen took his talents to Louisiana Tech. He picked up over 1,000 total yards across his first two collegiate seasons, making the Power 5 jump to Texas A&M for 2024. He saw an extreme dip in production, transferring once again to Cincinnati, where he finished his college career with a strong senior campaign that saw him score 13 touchdowns, good for third in the country.

Cyrus Allen NFL Draft Profile:

Position: WR

School: Cincinnati Bearcats

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 180 pounds

Hometown: New Orleans, Louisiana

Statistics:

2025: 51 Receptions, 674 Yards, 13 TDs, 7 Carries, 20 Yards

Career: 137 Receptions, 2,221 Yards, 22 TDs, 14 Carries, 20 Yards

Strengths:

Twitchy late-play accelerator, will drop down into sitdown routes and explode out of them to generate separation on either designed hesitation concepts or broken plays

Smooth extension to work away from his frame and reel in passes outside of his comfort zone

Savvy runner in traffic after the catch, aligns his movements well to work around contact and maintain momentum

Has the straight-line speed to work the sideline and turn the corner, especially on motion-based passing attacks

Tons of success working laterally as a pre-snap mover, good body control to make himself quickly available, and wastes no time transitioning to a ball carrier and turning upfield

Fluid hips when turning upfield, movements are smooth, and don’t use unnecessary motion

Decent footwork when settling down in zone on comeback routes

Flashes high-end footwork against press-man coverage, can showcase a plethora of different releases to move the defender off their frame

Absolute jolt-heavy route runner who can whip through defenders in short spaces

Solid acceleration and body control when “throwing himself around” on routes, can re-center and fly through space quickly

Advanced knowledge of head deception will keep defenders guessing and reveal his intentions late

Weaknesses:

Doesn’t drive through his releases very well when moving vertically, drops into his back leg, and drifts forward instead of exploding out of his stance

Gets caught looking at the play too often on runs, will end up taking up space, and not engage in blocking assignments

Has too much of a tell on screens, will shuffle back too much, and take himself behind the line

Needs to be sharper in his vertical routes, often straight lines diagonally instead of making compact cuts, becomes easier to follow, and much less deceptive

Needs to be more decisive on in-breakers, takes too much time to settle down instead of exploding through cuts

Will get jittery at times in traffic as a route runner and over-adjust himself to avoid contact instead of smoothly avoiding it

Some brief balance issues when making quick movements after securing the ball, won’t force many missed tackles as an immediate ball carrier

Too methodical on multi-cut routes, especially laterally, will become too predictable and needs to trust his athleticism and move with more intent

Struggles with physicality at the top of his route stems, and will let his arms drag, giving him unnecessary issues when trying to work past or around the defender

NFL Outlook:

Allen is a man coverage nightmare, and can work with elite separation skills at all three levels. He projects well as a productive slot/Z receiver who can work in heavy doses with pre-snap motion. Allen could emerge as a 3rd option in a good passing offense, a guy that defenses always have to account for and can make man-heavy defenses pay, especially behind an alpha WR1. He needs to work on his route running past his initial releases and on mid-level routes to be a more well-rounded receiver, but he should be a decent offensive piece immediately, with the potential for long-term consistent production.

NFL Player Comparison:

Allen's tape gives reminders to another undersized WR prospect who landed in the early rounds, former Ole Miss receiver Elijah Moore. Moore's NFL career never fully took off, but coming out of college, their profiles are decently similar. Allen compares closest to the former 2nd round pick with his compact movement skills, and his ability to tear up defenders with a healthy release package and suddenly take advantage of DBs. Moore never found himself a schematic fit to flourish in, but the hope is that Allen could find said situation and become a longtime NFL starter.

Prospect Grade:

Late 3rd Round