5 wide receivers the Browns should target in the 2023 NFL Draft

With the 2023 NFL Draft quickly approaching, and the Cleveland Browns needing to add firepower on offense, here are 5 wide receivers they should consider drafting at pick 42.

The wide receiver position seems to be a popular one for Cleveland Browns fans to fixate on heading toward free agency and the 2023 NFL Draft. With a fairly weak free agent wide receiver class, and the lack of early draft capital to trade for a truly impactful wideout, the Browns may look to the draft to add another target for quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Amari Cooper excelled as a solid lead receiver this season, and Donovan Peoples-Jones seems to have shown enough to be valued as a draft “steal,” earning himself a significant role in what should be a fairly new-look, high-powered Browns offense under head coach and play-caller, Kevin Stefanski.

While both Cooper and Peoples-Jones played at a high level with both Watson and 2022 starting quarterback, Jacoby Brissett, I would expect the team to look to add a bit more of an explosive, dynamic weapon for Watson’s disposal in his first real season as a starter.

5 wide receiver prospects the Cleveland Browns should target at pick 42 in the 2023 NFL Draft

5. Jalin Hyatt, Tennessee

First, we have the player that Cleveland Browns owner, Jimmy Haslam, would likely be petitioning for: Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt. Haslam reportedly has been enamored by the offensive attack deployed by his alma mater and would like to replicate it with his own orange-wearing football team.

Hyatt was an Alabama killer this season, lighting up the Crimson Tide for four touchdowns on his way to a Biletnikoff Award-winning season for the Volunteers. Posting 1,267 yards and 15 touchdowns on 67 receptions in a breakout junior season, Hyatt enters the 2023 NFL Draft with a first-round pedigree.

While he certainly possesses the speed, explosiveness, and home-run capability that the Browns are surely looking for, Hyatt may not be the most well-rounded receiver prospect in the class. He is effective down the field and with the ball in his hands after quick passes but could be more refined in the middle. To be fair, this was what he was primarily asked to do at Tennessee, so he could certainly be capable of becoming a truly dynamic weapon at the next level.

Unfortunately for the Browns, I think other teams will believe that and select him prior to pick 42 when Cleveland comes on the clock, but if he is still on the board I think Hyatt would be a great addition and a near-perfect fit for what general manager Andrew Berry and the team are likely looking for. He did fall in this mock draft that I wrote in my Dawg Pound Daily debut, so with the wide variety of rankings you never know what may happen in the 2023 NFL Draft.

4. Zay Flowers, Boston College

There may not be a prospect in the 2023 NFL Draft that is getting more hype in draft circles than Boston College’s Zay Flowers. The senior led an incredibly productive four-year career for the Eagles, finishing off with 1,077 yards and 12 touchdowns on 78 catches in 2022.

With his draft stock seeming to peak at the right time, like Hyatt, I don’t believe there’s much of a chance that Flowers is on the board when the Browns pick in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft. If he is? I would think it would be a slam dunk.

Flowers’ athleticism makes him a nightmare matchup for opposing defenses. With his size (5-foot-10 and 177 lbs) he is predominantly viewed as a slot receiver, but Flowers can line up all over the field — and win.

In the slot, Flowers is as shifty as they come. He’s quick in and out of breaks, nearly impossible to tackle in the open field, and isn’t afraid to make the tough catches in traffic across the middle.

Outside, he uses his blinding speed to truly be an elite deep threat, running right by corners and even safeties down the field. He is a great ball-tracker and has top-notch body control when making catches at all three levels.

Flowers would complement Cooper and Peoples-Jones very well and should have an immediate impact on the Browns offense as a rookie, if available and selected in the 2023 NFL Draft.

3. Kayshon Boutte, LSU

LSU’s Kayshon Boutte was once viewed as a no-doubt first-round prospect, following in the footsteps of former Tigers, Odell Beckham Jr., Justin Jefferson, and Ja’Marr Chase. At this point leading up to the 2023 NFL Draft, injury history and “character concerns” are causing Boutte’s draft stock to fall.

Possibly right into the waiting arms of the Cleveland Browns.

The draft stock of Boutte has been so polarizing that despite his pedigree, he initially announced that he would be returning to Baton Rouge for his senior season, before changing courses and declaring for the 2023 NFL Draft. Talent and ability are not the questions with Boutte. To sum it up, the issue is consistency.

To start, as they say, the best ability is availability. Boutte required two surgeries on an injured ankle that caused him to miss the end of his sophomore season and led him to a slow start after recovering into this past year.

While Boutte did get back into impressive playing form, the injury prevented him from putting up some of these monster, productive seasons that some other prospects were able to post. Further, some are concerned that with such an injury “history,” these issues will carry over to the next level. Some also questioned his work ethic coming back from the injury, but I was certainly not there, so I cannot speak to that at all.

On the field, the main area where I see Boutte struggle is with drops. It seems that he often lapses with his concentration and lets a ball go right through his hands. While there’s plenty of impressive catches and plays littered throughout his tape, Browns fans may be reluctant to give him a fair chance if he comes out as a rookie and has a couple of focus drops, as the team has seen recently.

Similar to guys like Jefferson and Chase before him, Boutte does not have one super glaring strength in his game. He doesn’t have blinding speed, but he can finish off plays. He isn’t the biggest receiver out there, but he is built well and knows how to use his body. He isn’t the crispest route runner, but he knows how to get open. Boutte just seems to find a way to make plays and there is no teaching that.

I actually see quite a bit of Cooper and even a little bit of Peoples-Jones in Boutte’s game. He isn’t the freak-athlete, speed guy that many Browns fans are looking for, but he truly could be the best wide receiver in the 2023 NFL Draft. His slipping draft stock could be a big win for the Browns if they take a chance on him.

2. Tyler Scott, Cincinnati

Tyler Scott is another wide receiver whose stock is soaring heading into the 2023 NFL Draft. Unlike Flowers, however, his stock is going from day three towards day two, as opposed to day two to round one of the draft.

If the Browns like Hyatt and he does go before they pick at 42, Scott would not be a bad consolation prize whatsoever. I haven’t completely finished my wide receiver evaluations, but I may even have Scott higher than Hyatt when it’s all said and done.

If Scott was in the Tennessee offense in the same role as Hyatt this year, I have no doubt that he would have posted nearly identical numbers. Scott has absolutely blinding speed and could set some records at the 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Combine coming up.

Scott uses that speed to create separation down the field and excels with slight nuances in his route running to create big plays for his offense.

To me, Scott has the potential to be a truly dynamic playmaker in the NFL. He’s not just a deep threat, displaying flashes of impressive route running, solid hands, and elite ball carrying and elusiveness in the open field.

He will need to fill out his frame to be an every-down, number one-type receiver in the NFL, but I believe he is capable and will certainly fill the exact role that the Browns need right away. I am confident that Scott is exactly what Cleveland had hoped Anthony Schwartz would be, and although it may be viewed as a slight reach right now, Scott can prove to be worthy of the 42nd pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

1. Josh Downs, North Carolina

Over the last two seasons, with two different quarterbacks, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more consistent and productive wide receiver in college football than North Carolina’s Josh Downs. Sure, one of those quarterbacks is set to be a starter in the NFL next season and the other a Heisman Trophy favorite and likely first-round pick, but Downs deserves a ton of credit for his own production.

Downs’ tape has been my favorite to watch of any wide receiver in the 2023 NFL Draft. Even once I had a good idea of what I was seeing with Downs, I continued to watch game after game to see what he had in store. He didn’t ever disappoint. Right now, I have him ranked behind only Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Jordan Addison, so if he is available at pick 42, I would be jumping for joy.

Even though he’s just 5-foot-10, Downs is the complete package, in my mind. He truly possesses everything that you look for in a successful wide receiver besides the size. First, Downs is tough as nails and as fiery of a competitor as you’ll find. He fights for extra yards, gives up his body as a blocker, makes catches over the middle of the field, and will not be outworked.

Further, Downs has an incredibly impressive blend of power, speed, and athleticism. Once you get the ball in his hands, he is very tough to bring down. He can run by you, around you, or through you.

He’s a very sound route runner with very sticky and reliable hands. He excels in the red zone and is very effective at all levels of the field. He may not be quite as fast as guys like Scott, Hyatt, and Flowers, but he has plenty of burst to take the top off the defense and to take short catches the distance.

With his size and volume, many will pigeonhole Downs as a slot receiver. That would be a huge mistake. Sure, he excels in the slot, but he is a dynamic playmaker that will complement Cooper and Peoples-Jones absolutely perfectly. Giving Stefanski another versatile piece to deploy in the offense with Watson could make the Cleveland Browns even more dangerous in 2023.

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