A key playmaker in the explosive Tennessee offense, wide receiver Cedric Tillman is looking to bring that same playmaking ability to the next level as he enters the 2023 NFL draft.
Here is everything you need to know about the Vols weapon:
Vitals
Height: 6-3
Weight: 213
Class: Senior
40 Time: 4.54
Strengths
Possessing an impressive combination of athleticism, size, and playmaking ability, Cedric Tillman has been a key piece in the Volunteer’s offensive explosion over the last two seasons. Though he was injured most of this year, Tillman still put up impressive numbers in limited action, nabbing 37 catches, for 417 yards, and three touchdowns. When healthy during the 2021 season, Tillman had his breakout campaign where he went for over 1,000 yards, and hauled in twelve touchdowns. He had impressive performances against top defenses in Alabama and Georgia.
Tillman possesses ideal size for the position and is boosted by his long arms which creates an excellent catch radius for him to work with. His athleticism, play strength, and aggressiveness made him one of the best at going up and getting the deep ball, and he was unaffected by contact through the catch. Tillman is a powerful runner off the line, exploding and working through contact to get to the second level. He tracks the ball well deep, and has a subtle second gear once he hits the top of his route, able to accelerate with the coverage and leap to the football to secure it.
While he is not the speediest receiver on the field, Tillman more than makes up for that with an excellent run after the catch ability that leaves defenders shaken. He is able to drag defenders past the point of contact and pick up chunk yardage, or explode through that contact and make a big play happen out of nowhere. If teams do not wrap up accordingly or place a smaller corner on Tillman, he will have a field day.
Weaknesses
Though Tillman does work well through contact, he lacks that initial acceleration to really separate from bigger and more physical corners and can sometimes get stuck on a route. Though he does have the catching skills to generally overcome shadow coverage, it may not be more of a struggle at the next level where defenders have better ball skills and play strength.
Tillman did not look himself after working back last season from an ankle injury, as he was noticeably less explosive. He will need to prove he can play at his 2021 level to be successful at the next level.
Projection
Cedric Tillman is a big-bodied, athletic, big-play receiver. He has the tenacity, size, run after catch ability, and ball skills to be a real threat at the next level on the perimeter. While his speed is not game-breaking, Tillman can reliably be called upon to attack the ball down the field and go get the football. He will need to fully recover from an ankle injury that slowed him down last year, and work on being better through initial release from bigger corners. Tillman will undoubtedly be targeted fairly early as an impact receiver right away and could be a very productive player in this league from opening day.
Projection: Top 50 Pick
