2021 NFL Draft rookie profile: North Carolina WR Dyami Brown

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The past two seasons, WR Dyami Brown has been a major part of the suddenly dominant North Carolina Tar Heels offense. Over the past two seasons, not many receivers at the collegiate level have been as productive as Brown, who has caught 106 passes for 2,133 yards and 20 touchdowns. Brown should be considered a strong Day 2 prospect in this year’s NFL draft.

Coming into the 2020 season there was debate as to which Tar Heel receiver was the better prospect between Brown and Dazz Newsome, mostly due to the perceived holes in Brown’s game — many viewed him as only a deep threat kind of receiver. Brown showed up in 2020 in a big way and answered many questions showing development in crucial parts of his game, most notably his ability to work the short and intermediate parts of the field and working the soft areas of zone and off coverages. Brown excelled in these areas establishing himself as a true go-to receiver. This is most evidenced in both his takeover of the target share and his increase in overall efficiency despite his average depth of target going up.

Dyami Brown had big college production the last two years

Worth noting:

• An average depth of target of 17.9 yards in 2019 and a class-leading 18.5 yards in 2020.
• Increased his catch rate by 8% from 2019 (56.7%) to 2020 (64.7%), despite leading the draft class in aDOT.
• Only averaged 5.0 yards after the catch in 2020.

Strengths: Dyami Brown could be an elite deep threat

• Good athlete. Brown displays great burst/acceleration, good leaping ability and good top-end speed.
• Excellent deep threat. Has refined vertical route running ability and ball tracking skills. Generates huge separation and has the top-end speed to not allow recoveries. Plays with tremendous focus in and through traffic and routinely finds a way to come up with the football, even on slightly off target throws. Has a handful of tricks and subtleties he uses to generate separation in both his release game and later in the route. Very quick and explosive on double moves routinely getting defenders to bite underneath and then blazing past them with his exceptional burst.

• Deep threat ability allows him to take advantage of “off” and bail-coverage techniques with ease. Brown’s ability on deep routes often results in defenders giving him a large cushion; Brown knows how to use his speed to threaten vertically to then throttle down quickly for a hitch or explode into a crisp out route maximizing the “free” yards. This part of his game really came along in 2020.

Weaknesses: Dyami Brown didn’t have the widest route tree

• Limited route tree in college. Most of his production came on vertical routes, out-breaking routes and hitches/comebacks. While he did catch some passes on slants, his in-breaking route tree is potentially underdeveloped. This is not necessarily a case of “he can’t,” but it’s certainly a case of not knowing for sure if he can.
• After-catch production is not a strong part of his game. His lack of after-the-catch production could very well be attributed to his mostly vertical route tree, but when you put on the tape you certainly get some more info. Brown rarely makes defenders miss in space and is not adept at using his burst to create angles and capitalize on creases. Brown does play with good physicality though and at times will fight to move the chains, but he could stand to get stronger. Given his athleticism this is certainly an area Brown could improve but as of now it is a big hole in his game.
• Positional versatility is a question mark. Through no fault of Brown’s, he lined up almost exclusively at left wide receiver. Occasionally took snaps on the right side but it was few and far between. While this certainly could mean nothing, his ability to work from other alignments is mostly unknown at this point.

Best fits: Dyami Brown could fit with Washington or Jacksonville

• Jacksonville Jaguars (picks 2.01, 2.13, 3.01) – The Jaguars have a ton of early picks on Day 2 and could certainly look to add WR talent to pair with presumable first overall pick Trevor Lawrence. While I don’t see Brown going as high as 33rd overall, the 45th and 65th picks would both be good spots for him. If Brown landed with the Jaguars, he would join a decently talented receiving core with D.J. Chark as a legit deep threat and Laviska Shenault, who is more a gadget player. However, neither of those guys have proven to be “the guy,” and Brown would have an opportunity to establish himself as such in time. I do not see Brown making an immediate impact in this scenario but for dynasty purposes he would be a player to target in the second round, especially considering his pairing with Lawrence.
• Washington Football Team (picks 2.19, 3.10, 3.19) – The Football Team will have multiple chances to draft a wide receiver on Day 2 in the range I think Brown should be selected. This would be a nice spot for Brown from an opportunity standpoint, as he would likely earn playing time quickly and have only Terry McLaurin in the way of a heavy target share. On the flip side, the quarterback situation in Washington isn’t great, and as we have seen with McLaurin, could contribute to inconsistency in raw production early on.
• Tennessee Titans (picks 2.21 and 3.22) – As of right now, it appears the Titans could be losing all four of Corey Davis, Adam Humphries, Jonnu Smith and Kalif Raymond. If this scenario holds, they will be in desperate need of a pass catcher, and pairing a deep threat like Brown with after-the-catch monster A.J. Brown would be an excellent complement. Obviously, the Titans have been a run-heavy team of late and use a ton of play-action. This plays beautifully into Brown’s ability as a deep threat. While target volume might be an issue here, I would expect Brown to be very efficient and a strong candidate for heavy production as a rookie.