Brandon Inniss

[Twopointtry]

I wanted to write about WR prospects for Rams fans to watch for the 2027 NFL draft. The first player I studied was Inniss, who plays for Ohio State. Since the Rams don't hold a high pick, I'm ignoring all of the highly ranked WRs and focusing on those currently projected to go 3rd round or later.

I think that Inniss is very underrated by draft experts. The consensus board has him as a 7th round prospect. I understand this, because he has almost zero career production and his 2025 game tape is bad. After the first few games I watched on him, I had him as an UDFA prospect.

After watching more tape, however, I got a strong suspicion that he was limited by some type of injury for much of last season. To my eye, something changed with him physically about halfway through the 2025 season. Also, the top 3 targets for OSU were Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate and Max Klare (the TE the Rams drafted in the 2nd round), so if I were the QB, I wouldn't have thrown the ball much to Inniss either. If Inniss can remain healthy and become a primary target, his draft stock should shoot up. I think the draft boards are too low on Inniss. I have him as an early Day 3 pick, with the potential to become a Day 2 pick if he rebounds with a strong 2026 season.

My NFL comp for him right now is KJ Osborn, who was drafted in the 5th round by the Vikings in 2020. With improvement, maybe Inniss could be more like Christian Kirk. I know Osborn isn't a household name (he's been a PS type guy since he left the Vikings) and isn't an All-Pro or anything, but consider these stats:

Osborn: 158 catches for 1,845 yards and 15 TDs in 4 seasons with the Vikings
Tutu Atwell: 105-1,535-5 in 5 seasons with the Rams (2nd round pick in 2021)
Van Jefferson: 101-1,499-10 in 4 seasons with Rams (2nd round pick 2020)
Josh Reynolds: 113-1,450-9 in 4 seasons with Rams (4th round pick 2017)
Pharoh Cooper: 25-190-0 in 2.5 seasons with Rams (4th round pick 2016)

I'll post more info on Inniss later, broken up into 4 parts.

Part 1: Background
Part 2: Strengths
Part 3: Weaknesses
Part 4: Conclusion, Pro Comp and Draft Grade

 

[Twopointtry]

Background

Size: Listed 6 feet tall, 199 pounds. Draftscout has him at 6 feet and 1/4 inches tall.
Speed: Estimated 4.38 seconds and 4.43 seconds in 40 by draft boards
Age: Turns 23 years old in October of 2027. True senior. If the NCAA ultimately decides to allow players to play 5 years, possibly could remain in college for 2027 season.

5 star recruit from Florida. Made varsity as an 8th grader. One of the top recruits in the country in 2023, projected by scouts to be a future 1st round NFL draft pick, with Amon-Ra St Brown as his pro comp. Had a 4.26 short shuttle and 31'' vertical jump. Recruiting experts loved his passion, calling him a "dawg" and a "true alpha", his short-area suddenness and explosiveness, vertical speed, called him a sure-handed YAC machine who was very physical and could consistently separate.

Had a right foot injury in the spring of 2024. Undisclosed injury in 2025. One of 4 Ohio State captains in 2025. 2 time academic all-conference, sport industry major.

2025 (14 games): 36-271-3 receiving on 44 targets, 5-66 kick returns (13.2 ave), 17-181 punt returns (10.6 ave)
2024 (16 games): 14-176-1 receiving on 21 targets, 3-47 KR (15.7 ave), 14-107 PR (7.6 ave)

3 career fumbles, including losing a fumble on a punt return. Was supposed to become a starter in 2024, but Emeka Egbuka made a surprising decision to return to OSU instead of entering the draft. Ironically, I wrote a draft profile about Egbuka at the time, discussing a similar situation, where he had gotten injured the year before and didn't look like the same guy, but he bounced back and became a 1st round draft pick after the following season. Inniss was the starting slot WR in 2025, credited with zero drops (but one play I'd call a semi-drop.) 71.1 PFF punt returning grade in 2025.

DraftBuzz is highest on him, with a 4th round projection, 127th overall, saying he has elite timed speed, slot quickness, wins contested catches in traffic, but has tiny production, minimal yards per catch and is a weak blocker. PFN has him ranked so low, he might not even get signed as an UDFA, he'd have to hope to get a rookie camp invitation as a try-out player.

In the next post, I'll discuss his strengths.

 

[Twopointtry]

A quick aside about Tutu Atwell. Many Rams fans regard him as a "bad" draft pick, but this isn't really true. Yes, the Rams could have drafted Creed Humphrey, but a bunch of NFL teams that had a need at C could have done the same and also passed on him in that territory. This included the Packers, who took a different center, doing exactly what I would have done, because I had Josh Myers graded slightly ahead of Creed in that draft class.

If you go through that entire area of the draft, there were a bunch of complete draft busts, which is normal even for the late 2nd round and early 3rd round. One guy I thought was a great prospect suffered a career ending knee injury. Instead of becoming a cornerstone of their defense, he couldn't play football anymore. Some of the teams that took QBs got almost nothing out of those selections. A highly touted OT was a big bust. The top edge rusher still on the board only became a backup player. A LB who started off well as a rookie graded out as a poor starter last year and was particularly lousy in pass coverage. His team potentially would have been better off investing that pick and salary elsewhere and just grabbing a guy like Christian Rozeboom off the street to play LB instead.

The Seahawks took a very similar WR (small, but very fast) in the slot immediately ahead of Atwell's slot. I thought D'Wayne Eskridge was a big reach, just like I thought Atwell was a reach, because I saw Eskridge as maybe a 6th round type. Eskridge got suspended for domestic violence, he got hurt and in 2.5 seasons with the Seahawks only had 122 receiving yards.

In the following year's draft, the Kansas City Chiefs took Skyy Moore at slot 54, very close to the slot where Atwell had been taken by the Rams the year prior. I thought this was an outstanding selection, I loved Moore as a draft prospect. In 2.5 years with KC, Moore only had 494 receiving yards. He's mostly just been a return specialist in the NFL. Think about that for a moment, you're investing a 2nd round draft pick on basically a punt returner.

All things considered, the Rams actually got pretty good value out of the Atwell pick. Nothing spectacular, but easily above average.

It is an iron-clad rule of the NFL draft. Stuff happens. Usually bad stuff. Only occasionally does a move produce a jackpot.

 

[Twopointtry]

Part 2: Strengths

Top shelf football character. Ohio State is a powerhouse program stuffed full of future NFL players and talented superstars. Inniss was only a backup player in 2024. Yet, he was named as one of the captains for 2025 and the only other offensive captain that year was an offensive lineman. Neither of the 2 star WRs, Tate and Smith, were captains. Right off the bat, this should tip you off that something isn't "normal" about his football leadership and work ethic. OSU does a charity cruise for their fans each year to raise money for cancer research. This offseason, Inniss had the opportunity to go on the cruise to the Caribbean and vacation on Barbados and other islands. He declined, because he wanted to be an "Iron Buckeye", an award given out by the team's strength coach for the best winter workout players. Inniss said he felt it was important to set an example for all the new players (OSU has many transfers coming in) and show them the way to do things. He felt that as team captain he had to be one of the hardest working players on the team. This spring, he became 1 of 4 players named Iron Buckeyes.

His interviews are outstanding. Very obvious why he's a captain. Answers are thoughtful and well structured, respectful, professional. Coachable, goal oriented, communicates well with teammates, all business, a core team culture guy. Zero diva, does anything needed to help the team. Even back in HS, he played QB one year when the team had injuries at that position. You could use him on trick plays, because his arm isn't bad for a WR, he could throw a HS ball about 50 yards. If a team thinks it is drafting a backup WR, intangibles matter. A backup WR needs to be able to learn all of the other WR positions, similar to how a backup OL is more valuable if he can fill in at multiple spots. The backup also needs to be able to contribute on special teams. College WRs who put up big stats as starters didn't play ST and don't have the right attitude to embrace a backup and ST role. He's intelligent and done well in the classroom. A good soldier who does his job on the field with "menial" tasks such as running clear out routes and run blocking even when he's on the backside on the opposite side of the field as the direction of the run. He doesn't get lazy even when he knows he's just a decoy, not a primary read and has almost no shot at having a pass thrown to him.

Competitive. Says he wants to become a 1st round draft pick. Loves football. Hungry and energetic after catching, trying to gain extra yardage. Lowers his pads to finish runs, can spin to try to break tackles. One play, he was used like a move TE, coming across the formation to block as if he were a lead fullback.

Ball tracking and concentration. Sound technique catching the ball. Even if a CB is draped all over him and contesting the catch point, he has composed hands and keeps his focus on the ball. Tracks the ball well looking over either shoulder and adjusts accordingly, with quiet hands and good body control to toe tap near the boundary. If the pass is off target and too low, behind or out in front of him, he's a coordinated and fluid athlete who adjusts with cat-like body movements to get both hands on the ball and rescue the errant pass, comfortable catching while diving to the ground. Clear that the QB trusts him on 3rd and 4th down situations. Flexible in the upper body and balance to be able to look back at the QB while running upfield without losing speed.

Super detail oriented and conscientious. Good timing and accuracy with initial hand strike to defeat jam attempts at the LOS. Understands how to create route leverage vs the CB. Switches the ball to proper hand when running after the catch. Tries to put 2 hands on the ball in traffic and covers up the point of the ball with both hands. Maintains deception on fake blocks before releasing into his route. As a blocker, reads the play development to identify his blocking assignment and adjusts accordingly. Outstanding detail and precision getting to the proper blocking angle when working to the 2nd level. Good base and blocking technique, moves his feet to try to sustain blocks. Takes quick choppy steps entering blocks. Consistent blocking effort and reliable execution of blocking assignment is valuable when deployed as a wingback or as the slot WR in a tight split, a key consideration for the Rams and McVay's scheme. Turned his back and used his rear end to block defender on one play to make sure he wasn't risking a holding penalty. Demonstrates understanding of how to attack the toes of the CB in release to set them up and win leverage. Deceptive hesitation and change of pace moves. Proper urgency on route tempo.

Versatile athlete. Shows quick COD ability to run a jerk route. When healthy, sufficient sink and COD on pivot route. Both kick return and punt return experience. Ran the ball as QB in HS and has vision and feel as returner, so probably has value on jet sweeps beyond how he's been used so far at OSU.

Overall, I like this player. I think he has a higher floor than most college WRs. That said, before you get too excited, I have a long list of weaknesses to discuss, and we'll get to those in the next segment.

 

[RamFan503]

Good stuff man. Thanks.

 

[Twopointtry]

Part 3: Weaknesses

Failure to launch. Let's cut right to the chase. If I'm wrong about him being injured and Inniss was 100% healthy all of last season, he's likely a fringe prospect who will have an uphill battle just trying to make an NFL roster. In OSU's games in the 2nd half of 2025, there was an enormous gap in athleticism between the 1st round WRs (Smith and Tate) and Inniss. The other 2 guys probably could have literally run circles around him. It was jarring to watch. Puka Nacua is proof that a WR doesn't need to have great timed speed in the 40 be an NFL WR, but a smaller guy like Inniss does need to have at least some baseline "football speed" to play in the pros. If you can't run, you can't play. The "lesser" version of Inniss in 2025 had no burst whatsoever. He couldn't break a tackle to save his life. He wore CBs like a jersey, unable to create any separation. He couldn't separate at the LOS, in the middle of the route or late or during scramble drills. He couldn't burst into or out of breaks. There was too much of a pause trying to change directions when trying to run a pivot route. I felt that the lack of explosiveness took away any blocking strength, it reminded me of watching the lesser version of Cooper Kupp after his injuries. Inniss was too slow getting into the stem of the route. He was a one speed runner with no extra gear. At times, it seemed like he was "running in place" after making the catch, because his ability to accelerate with his 1st or 2nd step was so poor. He was "just a guy" on the field, there was nothing at all special or that would translate to pro ball. He needs to prove that he's a better player than he showed in 2025.

Houston, we still have a problem. Let's assume for discussion and I'm right that he wasn't physically himself later in the 2025 season, giving Inniss the benefit of the doubt. There's still a huge red flag. He looked healthy in the first 6 games of the season. What was his production in those games? He had 11 receptions for 87 yards. Seriously. Less than 2 catches per game, less than 15 yards per game. That's the supposedly "good" version of Inniss. He was a non-factor on the field. In the first 3 games of the season, he was only targeted 6 times. Late in the season, both Smith and Tate were out due to injury and they still didn't throw the ball much to him, they kept throwing it to Max Klare instead. Several of his catches last season were bubble screens, essentially running plays. If you took those out, his stats would have looked even worse. There's no way to sugar coat it, the guy has almost no receiving production so far in his career. OSU brought in some transfer WRs and they have a new OC. I don't know anything about the new guys, but if they leapfrog Inniss and he has another lackluster season, he likely wouldn't get drafted at all. He'd be better off staying in college and using all of his eligibility.

Average athlete. Don't believe the listed 40 times by the draft experts. I don't know where they got their info, but he doesn't look like a 4.0 in the 40 player to me, even when he was a HS star. He looks like a 4.5 second guy. That's OK for a slot WR, but I doubt he'll ever become a true 3 level threat. He's too short to play as an outside WR in the pros and for a WR his size he has tight hips. He's not very slippery, can't consistently shake CBs with sudden COD movement. He rounds off breaks on his routes, not able to snap them off at sharp angles. Tight hips cause him to gear down when trying to make cuts. This is a big deal to me, because I feel that it limits his ability to get YAC or be a dangerous punt returner. Some slot WRs are super-fast, others are "quicker than fast". Inniss doesn't really fall into either category.

Average route runner. Needs more polish on his routes. Release moves not overly impressive. Not deceptive enough in the stem. He understands leverage, knows how to stack the CB and is okay with his routes, but I feel there is room for improvement. There are several middle round WRs in recent draft classes that I felt were more advanced and tougher to cover.

Below average play strength. Not physical at the break point of the route. If the CB rides him in the stem, they can reroute him or hinder his progress. Needs to do a better job fighting through contact.

Below average blocker. While he gives good effort as a blocker, he doesn't have good play strength, bulk or length. Opponents push him backwards without much trouble. Arms are too short, making it difficult for him to stay attached to the block. Doesn't have a wide frame, so they can run around him easier. Just doesn't have the desired physical characteristics to be a plus blocker the way the Rams ask their WRs to block. If asked to consistently take on NFL linebackers, I don't think he's going to win most of those encounters. Inniss is close to Jordan Whittington in size, but Whittington is the superior blocker.

Average catch radius. Doesn't have long arms or big hands, not tall. Presents a relatively small target for the QB to hit. Not a leaper who can go up in the air and get it. Even though he's pretty good at catching off target passes, he's just not very big.

Average returner. He's had a few OK punt returns, but there's nothing electric or dangerous about him as a returner. He's had some issues where he's played it safe and let the punt bounce instead of risking muffing the punt and it resulted in losing a bunch of yardage in field position. Even though he has good ball security technique, he has more fumbles than he should for a player with very limited touches. One reason I think he might have relatively small hands is the fumble he lost was pretty soft. He took a glancing blow to the hand holding the ball and it resulted in the ball squirting out of his grip. It is nice that he has PR experience, but is he good enough at that task to be a returner at the NFL level? If you don't use him as a returner, I question his ST value. He'd do whatever the coaches asked and try his best, but I don't think he'd be great at tackling or blocking, because he's below average in size by pro standards.

That's the skinny on Inniss, the former 5-star WR recruit who was supposed to become a 1st round NFL draft pick but has performed so far more like a former walk-on and future UDFA. In the last part of this series, I'll give him a draft grade entering the 2026 season.

 

[OldSchool]

Thanks for the write up. I'd disagree with your assessment of his blocking ability and effort in it though which I doubt puts him on the Rams radar. He also had little to no production in 3 years so it's really hard IMO to project him as a draft pick.

 

[Twopointtry]

Thanks for the write up. I'd disagree with your assessment of his blocking ability and effort in it though which I doubt puts him on the Rams radar. He also had little to no production in 3 years so it's really hard IMO to project him as a draft pick.

I don't fault him for the first couple of years, because he was behind Emeka Egbuka on the depth chart, a 1st round WR. The mystery is why he had such a poor 2025 when he was supposed to breakout once he finally became a starter.

 

[Twopointtry]

Part 4: Draft Grade and Pro Comp

4th round grade. Pro comparison: KJ Osborn (Late 5th round, 2020, M176th overall, Minnesota Vikings, Miami FL)

Something to consider about a 4th round grade on a WR prospect is that if you go through the history of recent drafts, many of those WRs who do stick on NFL rosters (obviously there are several who wash out of the league and don't make it) aren't really WRs per se, they end up becoming return specialists. They return punts, but almost never see the field on offense. Some of those WRs were very productive in college and I thought they had good pro potential, but for various reasons they can't crack the regular WR rotations for their squads.

Osborn was taken near the very end of the 5th round in 2020, very similar to Puka. Osborn was the 176th pick. Puka Nacua was the 177th overall pick in the 2023 draft. Tyler Johnson was one of the WRs taken ahead of Osborn in that 5th round. There were many more well known prospects in that area of the draft. Quez Watkins had a very fast 40 time and was a 6th round pick by the Eagles. One of the picks the Rams sent the Jaguars for Dante Fowler became Collin Johnson, a very tall WR from Texas. Johnson only lasted one season with the Jags.

Osborn received an UDFA grade from Lance Zierlein. LZ basically said that Osborn couldn't separate from man coverage and had no impressive traits, but maybe he could carve out a role as a special teams player, since he had punt return experience. Osborn was 5'11.5'' tall and 203 pounds and ran 4.48 seconds in the 40.

As a rookie, Osborn didn't play a single snap on offense, he was exclusively used as a special teams player. He never became the primary returner for the Vikings. He only returned kickoffs his rookie season and didn't have enough returns to qualify for the rankings. If he had qualified, his average would have been at the very bottom of the league as perhaps the worst KR in the NFL. He only had a few punt returns and never had a PR longer than 11 yards.

Osborn also was never particularly good at gaining YAC or breaking tackles. His career YAC stats would have ranked him 97th out of 142 pass catchers in the 2025 season. His ratio of 33 catches per broken tackle is so far behind Puka Nacua's rate of 11.2 that statistically Osborn could go an entire season and not break as many tackles as Puka would in a single game.

Despite those limitations and his extremely unimpressive rookie year, Osborn eventually became a surprisingly productive complementary WR for the Vikings, playing with Kirk Cousins. He was sure handed, with a very low career drop rate. In his 3rd NFL season, Osborn had 650 receiving yards, ranking 3rd on the team, behind Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen. He had a better yards per target stat than Thielen. His receiving success rate (designed to measure the value of the catch for getting 1st downs, to try to eliminate garbage type of uncontested catches that don't matter, like a 5-yard gain on 3rd and 13) was the best of any of the top targets for the Vikings. If he had been on the Rams that season, his success rate would have been 2nd behind only Cooper Kupp. Also, his success rate in 2022 beat Puka Nacua's rate in his phenomenal rookie 2023 season.

In ESPN's receiver rankings for 2022, Osborn ranked 51st, not too far behind Cooper Kupp in 41st place. The only difference was CK had a superior "catch" score, otherwise the 2 WRs had almost identical metrics.

After 3 decent receiving seasons with the Vikings, Osborn's career fell into a black hole. Not only did he fail to produce for any of his other NFL teams, he wasn't deed good enough to be used in games or remain on the regular roster.

OSU as a team has something to prove in 2026 after getting knocked off by Indiana last season. Brandon Inniss as an individual player has even more to prove. In HS, he had speed to fly past defenders as if they were standing still. He could burst to avoid tackles and had great hands catching the ball. So far at OSU, however, he's been a 5-star "bust", making almost no impact. His role in 2026 is far from certain. Jeremiah Smith is a phenomenal talent who might become the top overall pick in next year's draft. One of the new transfer WRs seems suited to play slot WR and could usurp Inniss for that spot. The 2nd transfer WR has more size and might be a better fit than Inniss to play as outside WR. Consequently, there is a scenario where Inniss doesn't even end up starting for OSU and gets relegated to a backup role. If that were to happen, he almost certainly wouldn't get drafted.

On the other hand, if he capitalizes on his full potential and becomes the player many recruiting experts thought he'd become, Inniss easily could vault himself into the early rounds of next year's NFL draft. I'm skeptical about whether he can make it all the way into the 1st round, because I think he has some inherent limitations in size and athleticism. He's not Amon-Ra St Brown (though, to be fair, St Brown himself was a 4th round pick and was supposed to be too slow to be a good NFL WR.) I'm not yet ready to write him off and close the book on this prospect. He catches the ball well; he flashed decent quickness in the early games in 2025 and he has good football character.

To illustrate how a WR with a similar story can still "make it", we don't have to look any further than Jordan Whittington. Whittington had a bunch of injuries in college that nearly ended his football career. Initially a RB, he switched positions. He had limited receiving production until his 4th season at Texas and even then he was almost an afterthought, in the shadow of much more athletic and touted Texas WRs who would become high NFL draft picks.

This is the career receiving production of Whit vs several of his peers from that draft class. On paper, it was a super strong WR draft, perhaps the best I've seen in about a decade. I liked many of these WRs and expected them to do well in the pros.

Whittington (compensatory 6th round pick) 40 catches for 464 yards.
Malachi Corley (first pick in 3rd rd) 14-95. Waived after only 1 year with the Jets.
Jermaine Burton (3rd rd) 4-107. Had off field issues and was waived by the Bengals, currently out of the NFL.
Roman Wilson (3rd rd) 12-166.
Luke McCaffrey (3rd rd) 29-371.
Javon Baker (4th round) 1-12. Size and very impressive highlights, had a huge final season in college, he only lasted one season with the Patriots.
Devontez Walker (4th rd) 7-157. Considered a potential steal with 2nd round type talent.
Jacob Cowing (4th rd) 4-80.
Anthony Gould (5th rd) 3-29.
Anias Smith (5th rd) 7-41, lasted only 1 season with the Eagles.
Jamari Thrash (5th rd) 13-129.
Bub Means (5th rd) 9-118. Another popular name as a potential Day 3 steal.
Johnny Wilson (6th rd) 5-38. The huge WR from Florida State that some experts had pegged as a possible 2nd round pick.
Jha'Quan Jackson (6th rd) Zero catches. Only lasted 1 season with the Titans, now out of the NFL.
Brenden Rice (7th rd) Zero catches. Son of Jerry Rice, played at USC, only lasted 1 season with Chargers.

 

[Memento]

Difference between Whittington and Inniss is that Whitt actually is a talented blocker and has been because of all the running back talent that Texas had (Bijan Robinson, Jonathan Brooks, Roschon Johnson, Jaydon Blue, all of whom are NFL contributors), as well as the receivers like Worthy and Mitchell who received a lot of bubble screens that Whittington had to block for.

Whittington was regarded as the best blocking receiver in his class - in terms of both ability and "want-to" - and has proved it on the field in college and the NFL. Inniss is nothing like Whittington; if he's going to make an NFL roster, he'll have to do much more with his chances on the field at Ohio State.

Thus far? I'm not impressed.

 

[Twopointtry]

Difference between Whittington and Inniss is that Whitt actually is a talented blocker

The primary job of a WR is to catch passes, not block. I love Whittington, I wrote about him as a sleeper before that draft and one of the reasons I noticed him at that time was due to his blocking ability. Inniss has more potential as a pass catcher than Whittington. The problem is very little of that is reflected in his 2025 tape. I feel that he looked better in 2024, but since he didn't play much that season there just isn't much proof that he's actually a good WR. He's mostly a projection based on his traits.

In 2026, he needs to recapture the athletic form he had earlier in his career and translate it into statistical production on the field. One advantage in his favor is I kind of like Julian Sayin. He's short and doesn't have a big arm, but I think he's a good QB.

 

[Memento]

The primary job of a WR is to catch passes, not block. I love Whittington, I wrote about him as a sleeper before that draft and one of the reasons I noticed him at that time was due to his blocking ability. Inniss has more potential as a pass catcher than Whittington. The problem is very little of that is reflected in his 2025 tape. I feel that he looked better in 2024, but since he didn't play much that season there just isn't much proof that he's actually a good WR. He's mostly a projection based on his traits.

In 2026, he needs to recapture the athletic form he had earlier in his career and translate it into statistical production on the field. One advantage in his favor is I kind of like Julian Sayin. He's short and doesn't have a big arm, but I think he's a good QB.

You compared Inniss to Whittington in terms of "how a WR with a similar story can still "make it"" and as far as receiving yards compared to his fellow prospects. It doesn't encapsulate what Whittington provides for us that Inniss won't - because it goes deeper than just receiving alone. In a McVay offense, receivers are expected to block for running backs and fellow receivers or they won't get on the field.

It's why Atwell was such a poor selection for us (and a part of why he lost his job to Demarcus Robinson and eventually Whittington and Mumpfield), why Inniss, who doesn't have near the blocking ability or "want-to" that our current receivers have, will not work in our system. He may be a leader, but a leader has to do the dirty work as well, and he can't. Admittedly, it's not from lack of effort, but it's still a negative that he can't. The fact that his athletic traits are already below average only compounds his problems as a prospect.

I understand that you're looking at underrated receivers for our viewing, but Inniss is just not there as of now.

 

[Twopointtry]

He may be a leader, but a leader has to do the dirty work as well, and he can't. Admittedly, it's not from lack of effort, but it's still a negative that he can't.

I'm not convinced that the reason he wasn't a more effective blocker in 2025 is because he can't do the task. We saw a similar thing with Cooper Kupp once he started to get injured. Before, CK was an excellent run blocker, but once he lost the lower body explosion and play strength, he started to get beat more frequently. I think that the same problem that made Inniss a poor pass receiver last season possible also impacted his blocking.

I don't have big concerns with his overall effort or technique blocking, I just think he's small by NFL standards and I question whether he was fully healthy in 2025.

If Inniss can rebound, his receiving value will be in the short and intermediate areas, which is why as a recruit he was supposed to become the next Amon Ra St Brown. This is different from Atwell, who was supposed to be a deep ball and WR screen type of receiver. If Inniss can prove that he can be a starting slot WR in the pros, I don't think it will matter that he's not an elite blocker, he just has to be "good enough" to hold his own in that department and not be a liability.