Texas wide receiver Isaiah Bond was a polarizing prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft, but went undrafted as a result of a sexual assault charge that has since been no-billed. Immediately after the legal situation was resolved, the Cleveland Browns signed him to a fully guaranteed three-year contract, showing how much they value his talent. What does the tape show the team is getting in their new signing, and what kind of a role will he have as a rookie?
As far as pure talent goes, Bond was arguably a top-50 prospect in this year's class and a top-7 or top-8 WR. The issue is that his talent has not translated to much production. In three seasons at Alabama and Texas, Bond totaled 99 catches for 1,428 yards and 10 touchdowns. For context, Emeka Egbuka had 74 catches for 1,151 yards and 10 scores as a sophomore. Anthony Schwartz, whose name will come up often in discussions on Bond, had similar collegiate production - 117 catches, 1,433 yards, six touchdowns. That's not a great sign, but Bond shouldn't be written off simply because of that. Additionally, Bond comes at the cost of only about $1 million guaranteed per year; Schwartz was a third-round pick. Although, to be fair, if Bond hadn't had his off-field problem, it seems like the Browns were quite interested in taking him on Day 2.
Bond is fast. He infamously claimed "I'm going to break the record tomorrow for sure...I anticipate running 4.20 or possibly, if I'm feeling great, I might run a 4.1."
His 4.39-second 40-time is great, but nowhere close to Xavier Worthy's 4.21. He reduced his time to 4.34 seconds at Texas's Pro Day, which seems more representative of his game speed. He has excellent stop-start quickness and agility, and is definitely more of a WR/football player who understands how to use his physical traits as opposed to Schwartz, who always looked like a sprinter playing football.