5 Cleveland Browns WR prospects from out of nowhere

Cleveland Browns WR prospect No. 3: Isaiah Weston, UDFA from Northern Iowa University

Isaiah Weston may be the Northern Iowa University version of D.K. Metcalf. Metcalf, of course, was a major college player, whereas Weston played in DIvision II.

Nevertheless, he was a bit of a Combine Freak, not quite at the scale of Metcalf, but close enough to activate the saliva glands of a typical NFL scout Weston measured 6-foot-4, 214 pounds, and he ran the 40 in 4.42 seconds. He posted a 40-inch vertical. Metcalf is 6-3, 233 pounds, and ran 4.33 seconds. He posted a 40.5-inch vertical. Metcalf’s hand’s are 9 ⅞ inches, Weston’s are 9 ½ . Metcalf had 27 reps on the bench press and Weston had 20.

On the field, Weston had an absurd 23.9 yards per catch on his way to 883 yards for the season.

Northern Iowa is the same school that produced Hall of Famer Kurt Warner, so it’s not crazy to think that a talented player might come from that humble institution of higher learning.

But it’s time to come clean here. Writers sometimes try to bluff their readers into believing that they watch 50 games a week and study film with the same intensity as Tom Brady, and thus know schools like Northern Iowa.

Truth be told, the videos available on a player like Weston are the highlight reels on youtube, which you can watch, too, and know as much as the experts. Unfortunately, they don’t show us the bobbles and drops or times when the defensive back won the struggle for the ball.

That’s what we would really like to see to make a judgment. Because he played in a smaller school, stats come from the Northern Iowa website and do not include targets per snap, yards per snap, and other clever little stats that might provide additional insight.

Nevertheless, the Panthers’ team stats show that Weston had twice as many yards as any other wide receiver, but as a team, Northern Iowa didn’t throw very much. Their quarterback apparently had some limitations in his ability to throw the ball downfield.

NFL scouts do not have that much more to go on than we fans have. Ultimately, it comes down to heart, brains and whether he is still developing. Let’s see what he does against Denzel, Greg and Greedy in practice this summer.