2024 NFL Draft prospect profile: Jacob Cowing, WR, Arizona

Can Cowing compete with the big dogs?

As the old saying goes, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but rather the size of the fight in the dog.

Arizona wide receiver Jacob Cowing will never be the biggest dog in the fight. He’s very undersized for the NFL at 5-foot-8, 164 pounds. But there’s no small amount of fight in that relatively diminutive frame. Cowing is willing to go over the middle, block for his teammates, or be a runner with the defense keying on him.

The New York Giants might not need a receiver like Cowing, but he’s an interesting study following a breakout 90-catch, 13-touchdown red-shirt senior season.

Prospect: Jacob Cowing (2)
Games Watched: vs. San Diego State (2022), vs. UCLA (2023), vs. Washington (2023), vs. USC (2023)

Measurables

Height: 5-foot 8 ¹⁄₂ inches
Weight: 164 pounds
Arm length: 29 ¹⁄₄ inches
Hand size: 9 inches

Strengths

• Quickness
• Agility
• Run after catch
• Route running

Jacob Cowing is a quick, agile, and dangerous slot receiver.

Cowing has a great combination of foot quickness, agility, acceleration, and speed, which he applies to all areas of his game. Cowing’s quickness and agility allow him to efficiently get into his routes against a variety of coverages. He accelerates smoothly and with urgency against zone coverage, wasting little motion off the line of scrimmage. He does a good job of identifying the soft spots in coverage zones and settling into them for his quarterback.

Likewise, he presents a small target for corners in man coverage, and his agility can make them pay for being overly aggressive at the line of scrimmage. His acceleration can get them back on their heels early and he does a good job of using his route running as a weapon. He presses sharply breaking routes vertically to force defenders to open their hips before he breaks back to the ball. Conversely, he will vary the tempo of vertical routes to force corners to slow down before he accelerates down the field. Cowing also has an array of head and hip fakes, as well as quick jab steps, that he employs at the top of routes to sell breaks in the opposite direction of the catch point.

Cowing has generally solid ball skills and usually does a good job of locating the ball in the air and adjusting to it.

He’s a dangerous ball carrier after the catch thanks to his athleticism, as well as good vision. Cowing’s quickness allows him to evade tackle attempts in close quarters, while his acceleration lets him get separation from slower defenders. He does a good job of anticipating defenders at the second and third level, and uses his agility to alter their angles to pick up good yardage in run-after-catch situations. He’s also dangerous on designed touches like sweeps or screens.

Weaknesses

• Size
• Play strength

Cowing is undeniably undersized and will likely be limited to a “slot only” role in the NFL.

Teams will need to be careful in how they use Cowing, and he’ll need a certain amount of protection from physical coverage. He’s able to use his quickness and agility to defeat man coverage, however larger defenders (which is most of them) are able to disrupt him early in his routes if they can get their hands on him. Likewise, his weight and size limitations allow defenders to play around him or bully him at the catch point. He also had occasional issues hauling in passes in tight quarters. Cowing was certainly willing to go over the middle, but he occasionally had issues securing passes with defenders bearing down on him.

His size was also a factor as a blocker. While he was certainly willing and worked to sustain blocks for his teammates, he was really more of a nuisance than anything else.

Cowing can also stand to play harder when used in misdirection. He was frequently put in pre-snap motion or on apparent wide receiver screens, but throttled down shortly after the snap. It wasn’t a big issue, but even an additional fraction of a second of hesitation in a defender can matter.

Game Tape

Projection

Jacob Cowing projects as a slot receiver at the NFL level, though whether or not he becomes a starter will likely depend on the situation into which he’s drafted.

Cowing has the potential to be a versatile weapon from the slot. He’s able to keep an offense on schedule with quick routes, pick up chunk yardage on designed touches, and is fast enough to be a legitimate deep threat.

That said, he’ll need to land with a team that understands how to scheme around his limitations to reach his ceiling and be a consistent contributor.

He’ll be best for a team that uses route concepts to scheme separation and run-after-catch situations. His route precision, quickness, and agility allow him to exploit holes in coverages as well as any traffic created by the route concept. He goes down relatively easily, but getting a clean hit on him is much easier said than done.

Cowing might never be an offensive mainstay, but he’s a headache for defenses once he gets the ball in his hands.

Does he fit the Giants?
Yes, but they already have players who fill a similar role.

Final Word: An early Day 3 value