Scouting Profile: Isaiah Bond - WR - Texas
Sales Pitch: Undersized WR with dynamic movement skills. Injuries hindered his expected jump in 2024 but still has the speed and separation quickness to be a solid WR2.
*Gold Numbers Indicate NCAA T-25 for 2024*
Scouting Report
Isaiah Bond is a former 4-Star recruit from the state of Georgia. He spent his first two seasons at Alabama before transferring to Texas for the 2024 season. A pair of ankle injuries hampered Bond in 2024 and he never took the leap many expected from his 700 season at Alabama in 2024.
Bond is a quick footed and dynamic receiver. He displays excellent burst off the line of scrimmage to eat up defender cushions. His tremendous long speed forces defenses to respect him vertically and he is excellent at using it to create separation out of his breaks. Bond is his best separation from off the line of scrimmage out wide or in the slot where he has the space to leverage his strong movement skills. He is a dependable pass catcher who rarely puts the ball on the ground (5% career drop rate). He displays the ball tracking skills to win down the field vertically as well. Bond’s size limits him a bit after the catch but he is quick to turn upfield and has the burst to create chunk gains after the catch.
Bond is a small receiver with marginal play strength. He struggles to play through contact at the line of scrimmage and catch point. He shouldn’t be asked to consistently beat press coverage on the outside as he is easily ridden wide when he cannot win with burst. Bond struggles to create separation when DBs get hands on and take away his leverage. It is vitally important he continues to improve his route running to offset this fact. Bond has amazing top end speed but he struggles to control it at times, which adds bend to the top of his breaks. It takes him and extra step or two to throttle down which allows less athletic DBs to stay attached at times. Bond’s lack of size is also an issue at the catch point. He converts a low level of contested catch scenarios as he lacks the size or strength to outmuscle DBs. He is also a net negative as a blocker where he gives average effort and is easily discarded by DBs.
Bond profiles as a Z in a vertical passing attack that moves him around in formations to get him clean releases. The size and injury history are concerning but Bond has rare speed and the separation quickness to be a quality second option. He projects as a early to mid Day 2 pick give his physical gifts as a early career gadget weapon with WR2 upside.