Tay Gowan is an X factor at CB

Tay Gowan, CB
School: UCF | Conference: American Athletic Conference
College Experience: RS Senior | Age: 23
Height / Weight: 6’2” / 185 lbs
Projected Draft Status: Rounds 3-5

College Statistics

Player Overview

Tay Gowan started his college football career at Miami of Ohio, ultimately deciding to transfer in order to get more playing time. Prior to coming to UCF, Gowan spent time playing at Butler Community College in Kansas, ending up ranked the number 9 JUCO cornerback in the country.

As a redshirt junior at UCF, in 2019, Gowan played in 12 games, starting 9, after UCF’s original starting CB went down with an injury in the season opener. He was ultimately named second team all conference by PFF. Gowan opted out of the 2020 season out of concerns for the health of his prematurely born daughter.

Overall, Gowan has some very intriguing traits as a developmental option, but he’s probably most accurately characterized as “raw.”

Strengths

• Well suited for man coverage.
• Good football IQ.
• Not afraid of physical play.
• Has impressive length and good size for a pro CB.

Weaknesses

• Needs to add some weight to keep up with NFL WRs.
• Lacks the speed to keep up with the fastest WRs.
• Not an asset in run support.
• Only one year of FBS play.

Let’s See His Work

How He Would Fit

Gowan’s lack of experience at the top level of play - only 50 targets above the JUCO level - leaves a lot of questions unanswered about how he will project as a pro. His athleticism and size, however, will surely have a number of teams interested in him in the draft.

It’s likely that if Washington were to take him, he would need a year or two of seasoning behind what is quietly turning into a pretty interesting cornerback group in order to work on some of his weaknesses, including refining his tackling technique, being a little less handsy in press coverage, and getting a better understanding of how more sophisticated defensive schemes work.

One of the ancillary benefits of having a dominant defensive line is that it will inevitably make many of the secondary players behind it appear better than they would otherwise look. I’d love to see Washington parlay that apparent talent boost in ways that help the team accumulate more draft capital going forward. Grabbing a developmental CB (or two) on Day 3 could easily end up being a very solid investment over the next couple of years.