Top 10 wide receivers in the 2021 NFL Draft

#9 2021 NFL Draft Prospect: Dyami Brown (North Carolina)

6’ 1”, 195 pounds; JR

Dyami Brown

Another former top 200 overall recruit, Dyami Brown went from very limited production his first year on campus to cracking the 1000-yard mark and double-digit touchdowns in 2019, averaging over 20 yards per grab, earning third-team All-ACC honors. Last season, he slightly surpassed his yardage total in one less game but improved to first-team all-conference.

North Carolina had a lot of explosive skill-players on offense, but Brown had a different burst off the ball than all the other guys and he consistently gets off the line cleanly. He quickly stops his momentum and then re-accelerates. There’s no hitch on in-breaking routes, as he bends and pivots into them.

You see him blow by a ton of corners on skinny post routes, and then he drew a lot of attention from safeties in cover-two on those. When the deep man played flat-footed, quarterback Sam Howell would punish the defense by putting the ball out in front for his top receiver.

Last season, Brown caught 12 passes of 20+ yards for 543 yards. And he led the Power-Five by over four yards with 15.4 yards average depth of reception since the start of 2019. You see him work in some hop-steps and hesitation maneuvers before kicking into full gear. He is also a problem on deep over routes and when the play is extended, as he flattens across the field and nobody can stick with him.

With his speed to put corners on their heels with vertical stems, Brown can do significant damage on deep in-breaking routes, and he can rip off big plays after the catch on those. That’s how the UNC quarterback had a passer rating of 146.5, targeting on passes travelling 10-19 yards down the field.

Obviously, barely anybody can run with Brown anyway, but then he has that extra gear once the ball is in the air and even when his man can stay close or the UNC receiver has to slow down slightly, he can make some great catches with a defender on his back.

He shows tremendous focus tracking the ball over either shoulder, while keeping his man stacked and even with a defender coming over. And he has the ability to win the majority of battles with the ball up for grabs. Brown tied with Oklahoma State’s Tylan Wallace for the most contested catches among draft-eligible WRs over the last two years (21).

With his head back to the quarterback, he really snatches the ball out of the air and he got better at working back to it throughout last season I thought. Brown doesn’t waste any time getting upfield after the catch and he is ready to push defenders off himself with the stiff-arm.

He could threaten corners with his vertical speed, to where they played off-coverage on him and hitch routes were automatic completions, and with how efficient he is once he secures the pass, he gained close to ten yards on those every time it feels like. When he can just catch it in stride and keep running, he can run away from everybody. Brown does a good job of breaking down and getting his body in front of defenders as a blocker in space and excels at latching his hands into the chest of opponents on running blocks.

However, Brown’s role with the Tar Heels certainly wasn’t complicated. He spent 98.2 percent of snaps out wide over these last two seasons and almost all of them were on the left side. His route tree was very limited, as most of it came off his vertical prowess, running down the sideline, bending to the post and breaking inside off that, to create separation.

For somebody, who played a ton of X receiver, he doesn’t have the sturdy frame or ability to win in different ways as you would hope. Brown got neutralized for the most part by Syracuse’s Ifeatu Melinfonwu, who had the speed to carry him down the field and he didn’t really win in other ways. While he has gotten better at it, there are still a few drops when he seemed to hear footsteps. If he is away from the action, Brown shows little interest in getting involved as blocker or just half-asses those run-off routes.

I believe Brown turned himself into much more than just a deep threat this past season. The route tree was still very limited, but in terms of working the middle of the field more and just some of the details of the position, he showed plenty of growth, with potential to stay on that track.

Overall, he had only two games of under 56 receiving yards in 2020. There is still work to do in terms of release packages and expanding his route-tree, but you can’t teach speed and with the right coaching staff, he could be a high-level number two in my opinion.