2021 NFL Draft Scouting Report

August 2, 2020 1:00 PM EST

Evaluated by: Nick DeJong
@NickDynastyFF
August 3, 2020

Prospect Overview

Tylan Wallace was born in Fort Worth, Texas and along with his twin brother Tracin. Both committed to the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 2017. Tylan who majors in Kinesiology is an outstanding wide receiver prospect and has put up great nunbers in his three years in the FBS.

In 2019 he led the Cowboys with 53 catches for 903 yards with eight touchdowns on the season. 2018 was Wallace' breakout season. In a full year of production Wallace led the FBS with 63 receptions of 10 yards or longer and tied for second with 25 catches of 20 yards or more. He was second in the FBS with 1,491 receiving yards and third with 114.7 yards per game which is outstanding. Wallace has picked up a few awards so far during his short NCAA thus far:

• Biletnikoff Award finalist in 2018,
• First-team All-American (2018)
• First-team All-Big 12 (2018)
• Second team All-Big 12 (2019)

Positives

Tylan Wallace is a wide receiver who's built for the modern day NFL. More than capable of creating separation, and outstanding at creating yards after reception on his own. He is a threat to score every time he touches the ball from anywhere on the field. I do think that Wallace may be best suited as a high end wide receiver two on a team that already has another obvious Alpha already taking on opposing teams shutdown corners.

This would allow Wallace to use his strengths underneath and to also avoid double coverage down the field. In saying that, I do also believe that Wallace could potentially carry the passing game load for a team if necessary and be the target wide receiver hog for his quarterback. Wallace has shown he caqn quickly gain the trust of his quarterback due to his reliable hands and separation skills. The majority of NFL quarterbacks prefer to throw the ball to open receivers and that's exactly where Wallace shines.

Areas for Improvement

Not necessarily that it is an area in need of improvement, but I do think for Wallace he needs to show that he is fully recovered from his ACL tear and that he hasn't lost any of his speed or quickness that made him so successful the past two seasons. Additionally I'd also say that at times he struggled with press coverage and that is for two reasons. Firstly he tries to simply use his speed to get around the defender most of the time. Which takes us to my next point.

If Wallace can add some upper body strength he could incorporate that into his repertoire to beat press coverage and keep the defender honest at the line. Right now defenders know he will simply try and use his speed rather than his strength to buy himself some space at the line. Although Wallace was successful on a variety of routes, he absolutely benefited from plenty of manufactured targets from wide receiver screens and his production obviously benefited from it as well, and that is a concern for me at this time, one-trick ponies don't last in the NFL.

Draft Stock

The 2021 draft, much like the wide receiver class of 2020 is another deep one and littered with talented and skilled wide receivers of all types. The NFL Draft Combine is going to be important for Wallace like it is for all draft eligible players, but especially so for Wallace as he's not the biggest player at around 6 feet and 185 pounds, but backing up his film with some explosive combine numbers will really boost his stock in the eyes of NFL scouting front offices.

We did see Brandon Aiyuk land at #25 overall to the San Francisco 49ers in this past NFL draft and I'd say that's Wallace's draft ceiling as of this report in June 2020 given the overall depth of the draft class. Hopefully he shows NFL scouts this fall that he hasn't been slowed down by his injury and that he continues to put up huge numbers in the FBS once again to help secure his status as one of the top draft eligible wide receivers in the NCAA. Again, if Wallace is able to show no signs of slowing down post ACL surgery and teams believe that his knee is a non factor, I'm comfortable with giving him a late first or early 2nd round NFL draft grade given his outstanding production thus far.

Player Comparison

Similar to Tyler Lockett, Stefon Diggs or more recently Brandon Aiyuk, Wallace contains many similar traits to the three wide receivers I have listed here. All three are excellent after the catch, can create on their own and excel in the short area quick pass game, and are a threat to score each and every time they touch the ball.

Each one is also a quality deep threat using their speed to instill fear into corners and safeties which helps to create space for the other skilled positions underneath. All of them use their speed and quickness to beat their defenders and are very successful at doing so.

Games Evaluated

• vs Texas Tech
• vs Tulsa (best film)
• vs Iowa St
• vs Kansas St (2018)
• vs Texas
• vs Oklahoma (2018) (worst film)

Notes from Film

• Showed surprising ability to power through multiple tacklers vs Iowa State along the sideline and taking it to the house
• Excellent concentration catch vs Texas with two defenders in his face
• A YAC monster consistently racking up yards after the catch
• Has an assortment of double moves in his arsenal
• Willing blocker when asked to do so
• Makes his money on screens, slants and quick hitches but capable of running the majority of the route tree
• Terrific on field athleticism, burst and explosiveness
• Mostly played the X and Z spots but more than capable of playing the slot
• Shows reliable hands with only two drops noted in the 6 game films I studied and both were against Oklahoma in 2018
• Routinely finds himself open with creative route running
• Simply refuses to take the easy path and step out of bounds and instead takes on contact picking up more yards
• Natural hands catcher who rarely double clutches or uses his body
• Easily plucks the ball and quickly tucks it away safely
• Is a threat over the top or underneath
• Displays quick feet and moves fluidly in tight spaces
• Extremely productive so far in his NCAA career
• Often displays a competitive nature
• Shows good quickness off the line of scrimmage
• Struggles at times with press coverage
• Will need to add additional strength for the NFL level

Scouting Video Courtesy of Colton Denning