Scouting Profile: Isaac TeSlaa - WR - Arkansas
Sales Pitch: Ideal combination of size and speed for the position but a lack of polish as a route runner makes him more of an idea than reality at this time.
*Gold Numbers Indicate NCAA T-25 for 2024*
Scouting Report
Isaac TeSlaa was an unrecruited QB prospect from Michigan coming out of high school. He spent his first three seasons at Hillsdale College, where he was a two time All-GMW honoree and the Offensive Player of the Year in 2022. TeSlaa transferred to Arkansas prior to the 2023 season and started all 25 games over the next two years.
TeSlaa possesses the ideal physical profile for an NFL receiver. He is above the 75th percentile in height and weight with legit 4.4 speed. TeSlaa explodes out of his stance at the line of scrimmage to quickly eat up ground. He displays the straight-line speed to punish defenses vertically, with a whopping 25% of his 2024 targets coming more than 20 yards down the field. TeSlaa is at his best on catch and run routes, like slants and crossers, that allow him to get the ball in space with his momentum going forward. His powerful frame has excellent contact balance to run through arm tackles and the burst to pull away in the open field. TeSlaa is a dependable pass catcher with the grip strength and concentration to secure the ball through contact. On 100 career targets at Arkansas, he dropped 0 passes and sported a 72% contested catch rate in 2024, good for the 27th best rate in FBS football. TeSlaa is also a willing and able blocker. His size and toughness allowed Arkansas to reduce his alignment and act as a quasi-TE in 3-WR sets.
TeSlaa has all the physical tools of a starting NFL WR, but his production and polish lag behind. Despite being a 23 year old 5th year senior, TeSlaa has never shown the ability to be a focal point of an offense. In two years at the SEC level he never cleared the 600 yard mark in a season, and had only one game in 2024 over 60 yards. TeSlaa has a very basic route tree that relies mostly on deep shots and simple one cut routes. He lacks nuance in his route stems to set up coverage players and finds himself running into defenders more than he avoids them. He struggles to find and settle in soft spots versus zone coverage, with a bad habit of drifting away from his quarterback. TeSlaa is an excellent athlete, but wasted movement and sloppy footwork creates rounding at the top of routes which limits his separation ability. Despite an athletic profile of a typical outside receiver, he primarily player in the slot in college - 68% career slot rate - because he lacks the release package to beat press on the outside.
TeSlaa profiles best as a big slot in a play-action heavy scheme. His strong hands, blocking, and athletic ability after the catch are all exactly what the league looks for it it’s jumbo sized F-WRs. TeSlaa projects as a late Day-2/early Day-3 pick due to his lack of polish at his age, but has an intriguing skillset for a team in need of a WR3 with upside.