Titus Young NFL Draft Scouting Report

Titus Young
5’11″, 174 pounds | Wide receiver | Boise State

Acceleration: It only takes Young about 2 steps to get up to full speed.  His explosion of the line of scrimmage allows him to create space.  Young has a good short area burst that helps him gain separation out of his break.  He possesses a good 2nd gear that permits him to effectively threaten the defense deep.

Agility: Young has excellent balance and control which is essential to his success.  He is able to sink his hips and explode out of his breaks.  Young avoids wasted motion with both his body and feet that helps mask his routes.  His lateral quickness impacts his ability to get off the line and make defenders miss in space.  Young has good body control which he uses to box out defenders.

Blocking: Nobody will every confuse Young with an offensive lineman but he does show effort.  He works to get his hands inside the defender and impede their route to the ball carrier.  Young sticks with his blocks which helps spring long runs.

Hands: Young has nice soft hands but doesn't consistently pluck the ball out of the air.  To often, he allows the ball to get into his body resulting in drops.  Young also struggles with his concentration and will be caught moving up the field before he secures the football.  Overall, he showed to be very inconsistent with all aspect of catching the football.  He didn't show the ability to routinely comedown with the tough catches in traffic.

Release: Quickness and lateral ability are the tools Young uses to release off the line.  Young doesn't possesses the size and bulk to overpower the defender.  If the defensive back is able to get their hands on him they will make it tough for him to release.

Route running: Young shows great explosion while still remaining balanced.  He does a good job avoiding wasted motion which helps him cleanly get out of his break.  Young's balance is the key to his routes and ability to create separation.  While Young possesses good route running ability there were times I noticed a sloppy approach.  It appears that he is not always concentrated on running crisp routes.  While at Boise State, Young wasn't asked to run a very complicated route tree.  His main route was a streak down the field.  In the NFL, teams will be looking for him to fill a slot roll and run routes over the middle.  He also does a good job snapping his head around to locate the ball in the air.

Size: At 5'11 174lbs, Young is a little on the small side. His slender build will draw some injury concerns.

Speed: Young has the acceleration and 2nd gear needed to create separation.  He possesses the ability to streak past defensive backs and get down the field.  His short area burst allows him to get open and create space.  Once the ball is in his hands he is a threat to score from anywhere on the field.

Games Viewed: Nevada, Virginia Tech, Fresno State

Final word: Young is a very dangerous playmaker that will likely have an impact in the NFL.  He is a versatile prospect in that he can play wide receiver and return kicks.  A team looking for someone with speed and game breaking ability will likely consider Young.  However, he needs to work on his route running especially those over the middle.  His size makes him a likely candidate for a slot roll but he limited experience with the position.  It is not out of the question that he could fill a spot on the outside.  Overall, Young looks to be a solid prospect likely to come off the board on day two of the draft.