Boston College WR Zay Flowers Impresses With Patriots West Squad at Shrine Bowl 

The local product certainly showed everyone in attendance something in Sunday’s fully padded practice. Flowers won both his one-on-one reps against UAB cornerback Starling Thomas V, including an explosive in-cut where he created the separation that’s all over his college film. Flowers then caught two passes in team drills and drew safety help on a vertical route, creating single coverage for Florida wideout Justin Shorter’s walk-off touchdown to end the practice. Plus, he rotated in as a punt returner during special teams periods.

Speaking to the cornerbacks on the West squad, Flowers had a target on his back as the best receiver at this year’s Shrine Bowl, and the Boston College product welcomed the challenge.

“I don’t blame them. I want to go against the best [defensive backs]. If it were a DB projected to go high or someone that was supposed to be the best at the bowl game, I would’ve called him out too. That’s a good thing, not a bad thing,” Flowers said.

Although Flowers has great vertical speed, the 5-foot-9 receiver also has excellent short-area quickness and is a natural ball carrier. As a result, he primarily worked at the “F” spot in the Pats offense out of the slot while occasionally taking reps aligned as the X receiver on the outside.

Flowers received praise from the Patriots coaches when he ran an option route from the slot where he properly read out of the coverage and sat down over the ball between two short zone defenders. With offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien returning, a quick-twitch slot receiver becomes re-emphasized in O’Brien’s core passing concepts.

If the draft board falls in a certain way, Flowers could fill that role for New England, who should continue adding offensive firepower to surround third-year quarterback Mac Jones with as many options as possible. As the head coach of the West team, wide receivers coach Troy Brown was complimentary of Flowers’s skill set, especially as a slot receiver, where Brown played in his Patriots Hall of…