Where will Lynn Bowden go in the NFL Draft? Experts weigh in as combine approaches.
Lynn Bowden might give Joe Burrow a run for his money if the state of Kentucky were making the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft instead of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Bowden’s junior season for the University of Kentucky football team was historic. Because of injuries at quarterback, the wide receiver was thrust into the spotlight as Kentucky’s signal-caller, allowing Bowden to display the decision-making and athleticism showcased only occasionally during his first two years in Lexington.
His emergence as a read-option maestro made his decision to leap from the college ranks to professional football a no-brainer. He made his decision official prior to the Belk Bowl — a game in which he threw, not ran for, a game-winning touchdown — but most figured before the season ever got underway that it would be Bowden’s last in a Wildcats jersey.
In 2019, Bowden needed to prove to the NFL his capability as a route-runner. Due to the circumstances of UK’s season (two lost starters at quarterback), he took on a role completely void of pass-catching: Bowden reeled in a grand total of 30 receptions for 348 yards and one touchdown.
UK’s coaches throughout the season didn’t think that would hurt his draft stock. His unselfishness, they said, would make him a more attractive draftee. Others agree.
“It’s unquantifiable, but he stepped up when his team needed him,” Cam Mellor, Pro Football Focus’ lead college football analyst, told the Herald-Leader last month. “ ... That’s unquantifiable by our metrics, but that’s a human aspect and an incredible feat for him to be able to do, to pick up accolades in the process of helping the team instead of himself. When everything was on the line for him in terms of his future and he does that for his team, I think that helped his stock.”
Where will Bowden go?
Few mock drafts at this stage project beyond the third round, if they even go that far.
Bowden was not named to the most recent ranking of top-100 draft prospects released by Mike Renner, PFF’s lead draft analyst. Daniel Jeremiah, a former NFL scout described as a “draft guru” for the NFL Network, does not have Bowden among his top 50 prospects. Mellor believes Bowden could be drafted on day two — which encompasses rounds 2 and 3 — but believes he’s a lock for the early part of day three (the last day, featuring rounds 4-7) if not.
The UK junior’s stock is somewhat hampered by the amount of highly touted wide receivers available in the 2020 draft class. CBS Sports, which rates Bowden as the 105th best prospect overall, tabs him as the No. 17 receiver. Anywhere from six to eight receivers are expected to be selected among the first 32 picks in the draft.
“It’s a beyond-talented group, so it’s no detriment to him to say he’s a day-three guy,” Mellor said.
When breaking down film from last season, scouts will most often look at plays where and when he was in space. Those are the plays that will best translate, as far as his play-making skills are concerned.
Those selections should benefit him, too.
“He was facing eight or nine players in the box on every play so he didn’t have a lot of room to work with, so to generate as much as he did after contact and break as many tackles as he did in space, I think that’s where he ultimately does help his draft stock,” Mellor said.
Positionless football?
Taysom Hill’s name came up in multiple conversations that the Herald-Leader had with analysts when discussing Bowden’s potential in the NFL. Hill, who’s listed as a quarterback but acts as a utility player for the New Orleans Saints, is someone from whom teams could draw ideas when assessing how Bowden might fit into their franchise.
Jonah Tuls, an analyst for The Draft Network, believes Bowden will eventually be a starting slot receiver in the league, but his interchangeability is enticing and — if he puts up good numbers at the NFL Combine — could be crucial in making him a day-two draftee rather than a choice on the final day.
“You can’t teach his versatility, and with the NFL trending more toward the NBA style of ‘positionless personnel,’ the ideal roster in today’s league is for players to be able to do multiple things, like Bowden,” Tuls wrote in an email to the Herald-Leader. “As such, versatility and position flexibility is invaluable in the NFL right now. For many teams, Bowden won’t have a set position label.”
There’s much to be determined between now and the draft, scheduled for late April in Las Vegas. Bowden will get to test himself at the combine — where he’ll also get to interview with as many NFL teams that desire a sit-down — and could build on his combine performance during UK’s subsequent pro day, if he feels the need to do so. Regardless of how he performs, he’s expected to be the first UK receiver drafted since Randall Cobb in 2011.
Bowden’s ceiling appears to be, at best, a third-round selection, but he could look to Cobb as a source of inspiration: the ex-Cat was regarded as a low day-two prospect after the combine, but the Green Bay Packers ultimately selected him with the last pick of the second round. He’s since played nine seasons in the NFL and made one Pro Bowl.
“Cobb possesses rare competitiveness and great intangibles,” Cobb’s draft profile on NFL.com read in 2011. Sound familiar?
Marcus Spears, an analyst for ESPN who played nine years in the NFL, told the Herald-Leader that he thinks Bowden would have been drafted last year if he had been eligible, and believes he’ll be a matchup nightmare as a slot guy at the next level. In addition to Hill — who came into the league as an undrafted free agent — he likened Bowden to Cobb and Deebo Samuel, a former South Carolina standout (and another round-two selection) who will suit up for the San Francisco 49ers in this year’s Super Bowl.
He noted the coaching staff’s desire to stick with Bowden at quarterback rather than go back to Sawyer Smith when he was healthy as a tell-all indicator about the Youngstown, Ohio, native’s draftability.
“You could make the argument that it was the most impressive thing we saw in college football this year, what he was able to do,” Spears said. “ ... It spoke volumes about his preparation, how comfortable they were with putting him in that spot.”
NFL Combine
When: Feb. 24-March 1
Where: Indianapolis
TV: NFL Network
Wide receivers: Drills on Feb. 27
This story was originally published January 27, 2020 at 7:07 AM.
