Diamond Prospects LogoDiamond Prospects
Colbie Young

Grade

73.4

Photo: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images

WR
6th Round - UDFA
2026 Draft Class

Colbie Young

Grade

B+

Status

Cincinnati BengalsDraftedR4 • P140Cincinnati Bengals
Georgia
6'4 3/4"
218lbs
Age 24
Jun 24, 2026

Executive Summary

Colbie Young is a physically imposing outside receiver whose size, strength, and reliability give him intriguing developmental upside at the next level.

Strengths

Athleticism / Frame, YAC Ability, and Run Blocking

Weaknesses

Versatility and Agility / Twitch

Full Scouting Report

15px
Route Running
Pros:
•Utilizes slight head fakes
•Sinks his hips well
•Gets out of his breaks quickly
•Can break down in zones really well
•Can tempo a press release and create separation pretty well
•Solid hand activation throughout the route
•Sells the go ball well
Cons:
•Sharper cuts are needed
•Jogs out of his breaks at times when he doesn’t think he’s gonna get the ball, only for him to get thrown to
•Gets rerouted too much, and it's normally from a lack of effort
RAC / YAC Ability
Pros:
•Breaks tackles after the catch with his size
•Falls forward to pick up extra yards after the catch
•Displayed some good burst upfield
•Has some underrated playmaking abilities
Cons:
•Never showed home run speed or true breakaway speed
Athleticism / Frame
Pros:
•Very tall
•Average catch radius with 31 ⅞” arm length
•Good size hands at 9 ½”
•9.01 RAS Score
•Big-bodied frame at 218lbs
•4.49 40 for his frame is super impressive, but average for the position
•Uses his frame to fight through more physical corners
Cons:
•Catch radius isn’t the best it could be with a 33” vert, but still decent because of his height
•Not gonna be a true deep threat
Ball Skills
Pros:
•Makes good hand catches
•Attacks the ball
•Shows late hands
Cons:
•Nothing special
Game IQ / Processing
Pros:
•Finds soft spots in the zone to settle into
•Gets in defenders' blind spots in cover 2 and settles in
•Makes sure the QB sees him in the scramble drills
Cons:
•Effort isn’t there on his routes consistently
Agility / Twitch
Pros:
•There is some twitch at the top of his routes
•A little underrated twitch to his game at times
Cons:
•Doesn’t have elite short-area quickness or overall twitch
Versatility
Pros:
•None
Cons:
•Strictly gonna be an outside receiver at the next level
Run Blocking
Pros:
•Great effort in run blocking
•Reads when the QB is gonna scramble and immediately starts blocking
Cons:
•None
Games Watched:
•Week 1 vs MRSH, Week 5 vs UK, Week 6 vs AUB, Week 7 vs MISS,
Ideal Situation:
•Colbie Young is a prototypical big-bodied receiver. Standing at nearly 6’5” and over 215 lbs, he is a very physical receiver. Young has shown some solid route-running capability from the X receiver position. He has used head fakes, sinks his hips well for how big he is, maintains tempo, and activates his hands throughout the route. After the catch, he is very physical and breaks a lot of tackles with his size. While he doesn’t possess the home-run speed to house-call something, he can rip off fair amounts of chunk yardage with his frame. He has good hand size and pretty meh arm length, but because of how tall he is, his catch radius is still good. Young was a reliable pass catcher for Georgia. He was also great at settling down in zones and finding green grass. Young has some underrated twitch to his game. While it is definitely not elite, he does have it, especially for his size. Young was also a very reliable run blocker and used his frame to his advantage in that aspect of his game. While Young has decent route-running, he still has some areas to improve. His route running needs to be more refined, and he needs to show more consistent effort. I saw him jog out of his breaks sometimes when he wasn’t expecting the ball, only for Stockton to throw the ball to him, and it would be incomplete because he wasn’t timed up with the QB. His cuts need to be cleaner and better angled on his ins and outs. As I said earlier, he doesn’t have the home run speed in his YAC game. I was also disappointed that I never saw him be a jump-ball or red-zone threat, considering how big he was. While he does have a solid frame, his vertical was only 33”, which is underwhelming. Young doesn’t project as a versatile receiver, as he isn’t a playmaker or twitchy enough to play in the slot or on special teams. Young is also coming off a significant lower-leg fracture sustained in week 7 that sidelined him for the rest of the season. The Cincinnati Bengals selected Colbie Young with the 140th pick in the 4th Round of the NFL Draft. This is earlier than most scouts and the general public were expecting. He currently projects as the WR4 on the Bengals behind Tee Higgins, Ja’Marr Chase, and Andrei Iosivas. He will definitely see snaps early in the season and throughout the season when Chase or Higgins needs a break. I could also see him getting snaps in the red zone. The Bengals and WR coach Troy Walters have developed guys like Chase, Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, and Iosivas, and I am sure they will be able to develop Young as well. I am slightly concerned, as Auden Tate was a guy who never really took off, and he was another big-bodied receiver. Overall, I could see Young being a fringe Pro Bowl player in the near future, but that could be hard considering Chase and Higgins just signed massive extensions. Maybe Chase could be a trade candidate as he continues to grow frustrated with the Bengals' losing ways in recent seasons due to injuries.
Rating
•Route Running – 6.9/10
•RAC / YAC Ability – 7.6/10
•Athleticism / Frame – 7.6/10
•Ball Skills – 7.4/10
•Game IQ / Processing – 7.4/10
•Agility / Twitch – 7.0/10
•Versatility – 5.5/10
•Run Blocking – 7.5/10
Total = 73.4/100 (C) Early 4th or Mid 4th

Combine Testing

Height

6'5"

Weight

218lbs
87thVery Good

40-Yard Dash

4.49s
58thAbove Average

Vertical

—

Bench

—

Broad Jump

—

Three-Cone

—

Shuttle

—

DPH Proprietary Scores

Frame Score

87

Measures a prospect's physical build and size relative to historical NFL positional standards.

DPH Athlete

72

Diamond Prospects' proprietary athletic score that evaluates a player's overall athletic profile using combine testing and positional percentiles.

Total Score

79

The combined athletic evaluation generated from Frame Score and DPH Athlete Score.

Combine Year: 2026 • Data from DPH Combine Database

Andrés Griñe

Andrés Griñe

Founder of DiamondProspects and Head NFL Scout View Full Bio

I am an Assistant in Player Personnel/Scouting for Washington State Football with over six years of experience scouting NFL prospects and evaluating talent. I previously covered high school baseball as a writer for NMPreps and now run DiamondProspects, where I publish scouting reports, prospect evaluations, and draft analysis. I am currently a junior pursuing a degree in Sports Management and am originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Comments

Subscribers only — join for free to leave a comment.

No comments yet. Be the first to share your take!