The Philadelphia Eagles need a lot of help all across their roster. After going all-in to capitalize on Carson Wentz’ rookie window, the team now finds itself in desperate need of some younger playmakers. Fortunately, the 2021 NFL Draft is loaded with offensive talent, and Tylan Wallace would be a great Day 2 pickup for the Eagles.
Tylan Wallace (Oklahoma State) A Fit For Philadelphia Eagles
Strengths
The first thing that jumps off the page with Wallace is his ability to make plays downfield. While he won’t win any footraces against Tyreek Hill, Wallace has the necessary deep speed to challenge cornerbacks and get past safeties in the deep part of the field. This vertical ability combined with his absolutely fantastic catch radius makes him one of the better deep threat prospects in the NFL Draft.
However, even when covered, Wallace still has a knack for making plays on the ball. At 6’-0” and 185 pounds, Wallace doesn’t have the prototypical build of someone capable of consistently overpowering defenders at the point of attack. Despite this, he manages to do this at an elite rate and rarely loses to a defensive back in tight coverage. This physical style of play translates to the open field, as Wallace is surprisingly hard to take down after the catch.
Great catch by Tylan Wallace #SeniorBowl pic.twitter.com/vHjq9DDXfm
— Dynasty Nerds (@DynastyNerds) January 27, 2021
From an analytics standpoint, Wallace has a lot of the positive traits that you look for in a prospect. Generally speaking, the analytics community doesn’t like senior wide receivers, as logic dictates they would’ve declared as Juniors if they were any good. However, this fear shouldn’t be present with Wallace, as his 19.3 breakout age ranks in the 84th percentile. He easily could’ve declared for the NFL Draft last year, he just chose not to. Additionally, his 47.1% college dominator and 29.3% college target share rank within the 93rd and 83rd percentiles, respectively.
Weaknesses
Tylan Wallace was a great college athlete, but that doesn’t always mean he’ll be a good NFL receiver. As previously mentioned, Wallace is smaller than your typical outside wide receiver. He managed to overcome his lack of size against college cornerbacks, but this might be a problem against stronger NFL defensive backs. Wallace is more than just a contested-catch guy, so he can have a successful career even if this trait doesn’t translate to the NFL. However, he’ll need to add some muscle if he hopes to reach his full ceiling at the next level.
This lack of size could also be an issue when playing against press coverage. Wallace hardly faced press in college, as lesser-trained defensive backs simply don’t have the skills for that style of coverage. This obviously isn’t the case in the NFL, so Wallace will have to adjust to a more physical type of game. That said, Wallace managed to beat press coverage fairly consistently against Oklahoma, so there is hope he can do it at the NFL level.
On top of that, Wallace is not the most versatile receiver in the league. When watching his film, Wallace spent the vast majority of his time lined outside and was usually on the right side of the field. To be fair, there is a chance that Wallace is capable of successfully lining up elsewhere and winning. However, the coaching staff that saw him every day never let him try, and coaches tend to have reasons for their actions.
How the Philadelphia Eagles Could Get Tylan Wallace in the NFL Draft
The Philadelphia Eagles currently hold the sixth pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, which is way too early to take Tylan Wallace. Wallace is a good player, but he’s not the best receiver in this class and probably doesn’t even belong in the first round.
If the Eagles are going to draft Tylan Wallace, they’ll probably use their third-round pick to do it. Wallace is currently projected as a mid-Day 2 pick, and Philadelphia could probably get a better prospect with their early second-round pick. However, it’s hard to imagine finding a better player in the third round than Tylan Wallace. Given the depth of the receiver class, the Eagles could load up on defense early, knowing that a good player like Wallace will probably be available in the middle rounds.
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