VideoFrom Matt Harmon
You Need To Keep Your Eye On Isaac TeSlaa | Reception Perception The Show
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this video and kept the full transcript here for context.
18 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Jul 18, 2026
Published
Sat, July 18, 2026
30
Player insights
6
Players mentioned
Topics
Isaac TeSlaaAmon-Ra St. BrownJameson WilliamsJahmyr GibbsSam LaPortaAndrew Armstrong
Player analysis
Player insights
Amon-Ra St. Brown
PositiveRole0:03
St. Brown is one of the better slot receivers in the league, which creates an interesting situation for Teasdall's role in Detroit despite Teasdall's college profile as a slot player.
Insight pagePositiveUsage0:05
St. Brown played 40-44% of his snaps in the slot last year and is playing fewer snaps on a percentage basis in the slot as his career progresses.
Insight pagePositiveRole0:13
St. Brown is an unbelievable receiver who is a cornerstone of Detroit's wide receiver room alongside Jameson Williams and Isaac Teslaa.
Insight pagePositiveRole20:32
Amon-Ra St. Brown is described as an unbelievable receiver and one of the top targets in the Lions passing game, with Teslaa's development potentially allowing the team to get more out of him.
Insight pageAndrew Armstrong
PositiveProjection0:01
Armstrong was the most productive receiver on Arkansas' team in last year's draft class, leading the SEC in receiving at age 25, unlike Teasdall who had minimal college production.
Insight pageIsaac TeSlaa
PositiveRole0:13
Isaac Teslaa is not a deep-threat decoy like Mack Hollins; he's a credible threat to make big plays when targeted and can win underneath as well as along the boundaries.
Insight pagePositiveBreakout0:13
If Teslaa develops into a reliable X receiver, Detroit's wide receiver room becomes one of the scariest in the NFL alongside Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams.
Insight pagePositiveUsage0:14
Teslaa is currently the fifth option in Detroit's offense behind Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Sam LaPorta.
Insight pagePositiveRole0:14
Detroit uses three wide receiver sets on about 85% of their pass plays (bottom 10-12 in two tight end usage at ~15%), which is favorable for Teslaa's opportunities.
Insight pagePositiveUsage0:16
Teslaa's dig route percentage (26%) and success rate (71.2%) both continued to tick up as the year went along, suggesting improvement in his role.
Insight pagePositiveRole0:16
Teslaa could become a key 'middle class' roster player and glue guy for Detroit's offense, especially with St. Brown and Williams missing games, providing depth the Lions haven't had in recent years.
Insight pagePositiveRole14:18
Isaac Teslaa showed nearly 63% success rate on go routes and 70% on post routes, demonstrating he can win downfield even when defenses aren't keying on him.
Insight pagePositiveRole15:30
Teslaa showed an 85% success rate on slant routes, demonstrating he can beat defenders underneath coverage.
Insight pagePositiveBreakout16:42
Teslaa demonstrated the ability to win in tight coverage as a collegiate prospect, which translated to his year-one NFL tape with contested-catch ability.
Insight pagePositiveUsage16:58
Teslaa caught a pass on just 7% of his sampled routes in year one, but is expected to get more football thrown his way and become more of a routine player in the offense this year.
Insight pagePositiveDepth Chart17:19
Teslaa is currently the fifth target in the Lions passing game, behind Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta, and Jahmyr Gibbs.
Insight pagePositiveRole17:30
Teslaa is a playmaker with good hands, a 32% contested target rate, and won 5 of 7 contested catches without dropping any passes in his sample.
Insight pagePositiveBreakout18:30
Teslaa showed a 77.2% success rate that improved as the sample went on, demonstrating he figured out how to settle in zone coverage in the back half of the year as a developmental receiver.
Insight pagePositiveRole18:59
Unlike other day-three rookie receivers pushed into the deep end immediately, Teslaa can be brought along slowly in Detroit because of the depth of talent in the receiver room, allowing for proper development.
Insight pagePositiveRole20:17
Even if Teslaa is just a guy who makes plays when called upon, he allows the Lions to get more out of Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, who are on multi-year extensions, making him a win in his own right.
Insight pagePositiveUsage20:47
Teslaa's role is somewhat sacrificial, with him outside on 69% of snaps and on ball for 55%, running go routes at extreme volume, but he showed ability to get open on other routes.
Insight pagePositiveRole21:44
Teslaa is a credible threat who will get the ball if open and is capable of making big-time plays, not just a sacrificial deep-threat runner like Mack Hollins.
Insight pagePositiveBreakout22:11
If Teslaa develops and becomes a good, solid, reliable X receiver, the Lions receiver room becomes one of the scariest in the NFL alongside Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams.
Insight pageJahmyr Gibbs
PositiveUsage0:14
Jahmyr Gibbs is one of the key offensive weapons in Detroit alongside Sam LaPorta, competing for targets with the wide receivers.
Insight pagePositiveDepth Chart17:19
Jahmyr Gibbs is the fourth target in the Lions passing game, ahead of Isaac Teslaa.
Insight pageJameson Williams
PositiveUsage0:08
Jameson Williams is benefiting from Teasley's emergence as the third receiver, allowing Williams to play more off-ball and get more runway routes, which is beneficial for his skill set.
Insight pagePositiveRole0:13
Jameson Williams is a super explosive player in Detroit's wide receiver room who, despite being thin-framed, gives effort in the run game as well.
Insight pagePositiveRole20:32
Jameson Williams is described as a super explosive player and one of the top targets in the Lions passing game, with Teslaa's development potentially allowing the team to get more out of him.
Insight pageSam LaPorta
PositiveUsage0:14
Sam LaPorta is a key offensive weapon in Detroit's passing game, though the Lions use two tight end sets on only about 15% of their pass plays.
Insight pagePositiveDepth Chart17:19
Sam LaPorta is the third target in the Lions passing game, behind Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00Pretty much about 20% of his routes are curls, slant, screen, flat. Like it's just no layups whatsoever >> [laughter] >> for Isaac Teasdall.
0:09>> Look at the release.
0:10>> There's your separation.
0:11>> Great route.
0:11>> Stutter and go. Gets by clean.
0:13>> unbelievable.
0:14>> May be the greatest catch I've ever seen.
0:19>> We'll start with Isaac Teasdall because as you mentioned his highlight package isn't is incredible. Like if you just watch his
0:25highlights on YouTube uh amazing stuff, you know. I mean we're talking one-handed grabs. A lot of touchdown grabs uh for for Teasdall down the
0:32field. 55.6% success rate versus man, not good. 77% success rate versus zone. Again, not good, but I think there's a reason for
0:42that. And then 66.7% success rate versus press.
0:47Um again, I think we're approaching average here, but still we we got some room. So, I I think overall it looks
0:53like the the profile for Isaac Teasdall is a guy who is still a work in progress, which is to be expected for a receiver
1:02who was expected to be a work in progress.
1:05>> Yeah, he was expected to be a developmental guy. Uh if you did not follow us during the draft process, uh did not follow kind of my what was a
1:14little bit of like kind of almost kind of became a weird obsession with Isaac Teasdall because he was such an interesting prospect with all of these
1:23awesome athletic traits.
1:25>> Yeah.
1:25>> Um but just no college production what to you know, whatsoever. Nothing really to speak of. As a matter of fact, he was
1:33not even the most productive receiver on his Arkansas team that was in last year's draft class. Uh that was actually Andrew Armstrong who was uh a player I
1:43liked the film on, but was you know, 25 years old and led the SEC in receiving.
1:49So, it wasn't that there was no production to be had. Like I mean I I guess I said Andrew Armstrong led the
1:53SEC in receiving that year and then Isaac Teas- Isaac Teasdall just not involved whatsoever, but he tore it up in like Hillsdale College before
2:01which is where he transferred in from.
2:03>> Great athlete.
2:04>> Um but an incredible athlete. Like you look at some of the athletic comparable it was like Javon Walker, uh you know,
2:11Romeo Doubs, Allen Robinson, these like big uh big hulking X receivers. Uh right? Like that's who he kind of compared to.
2:21But then again, he was used as a like a big slot player >> Yeah.
2:25>> at Arkansas in his reception perception profile. Um and that was really what was inter- So I 68.7% uh
2:35like he was like 70% snaps in the slot in his prospect profile. He was off the line on 70% which just made it even then
2:42more interesting that the Lions traded multiple future picks to go get him in last year's draft in the third round
2:52which like I liked Isaac TeSlaa as a prospect, but even that was ahead of where I would have uh kind of had him.
3:00Uh so they make this big bet on him. We joked about it after the draft, James, like is this guy their their toosh push
3:06special? Like what is what is this? Cuz he was like >> Is he possibly their Taysom Hill?
3:11>> Is he their Taysom Hill? You know? Like what what's going on here? A little bit again a little bit tongue-in-cheek
3:17obviously on that uh because clearly he's a he's an interesting developmental receiver, but he goes to this team in Detroit that
3:22he was used as a big slot in in in college and they already had a guy who, you know, is one of the better slots in
3:29the league in Amon-Ra St. Brown. So very interesting pick by Detroit. So that's like the background on TeSlaa as a prospect and what I think makes him so
3:36interesting which will kind of like hang in the background here of of our discussion about him as his as year two
3:41uh coming in here and and what he did in year one from a reception perception standpoint.
3:45>> TeSlaa 6'4" at his combine. Um he had an overall athleticism score from Next Gen Stats at 96 points.
3:54Um was the Yeah, was the first uh was ranked number one by NextGen Stats in terms of wide receivers for the 2025
4:01combine. Um we're talking about a guy who at that size, you know, 6'4, uh what is it? 215 lbs, ran a 4.43, had
4:10a 39 and 1/2 inch vertical, near uh a 10.9 broad jump. So, yeah, this guy can get out the gym, man. Like he is an
4:17absolute uh stud athlete. Okay, now that being said, they had this guy running a ton a ton of downfield routes. Uh Matt, we're
4:28taking a look at 26% route participation on the nine route, [laughter] 11.6 route participation on the post.
4:37So, they're asking this guy to get go out there and make downfield plays, which again, when we start talking about his man's or his man scores, his zone
4:46scores, um stuff like that, those are going to be impacted by that quite a bit.
4:50>> Correct. Yeah, that those are going to be impacted by that. The fact that he's almost exclusively a downfield receiver.
4:57I mean, fewer than 20% of his routes are curl, slant, screen, 1.5%. Like if you it's pretty much about 20% of his routes are
5:08curl, slant, screen, flat. Like it's just no layups whatsoever >> [laughter] >> for Isaac Teasley. And of course, you obviously have to take that sort of
5:16stuff in context when you're looking at the overall uh success rate. So, it's important to look at kind of the the
5:21route-by-route data. And and he has some pretty solid success rates there. I mean, he definitely can get down the football field. I thought he was pretty
5:28impressive in in that regard. And just from an alignment standpoint, I think this was really interesting with him cuz like I mentioned, there's no way he's
5:35going to be this big slot option for Detroit for the most part because they have Amon-Ra St.
5:41Brown, who's actually playing fewer and fewer snaps on a percentage basis in the slot as he goes along in his career.
5:47He's what about like 40% to 44% last year in the slot if I remember correctly and I think that actually I started to think about that as I was
5:55charting out Isaac TeSla because he TeSla definitely played more outside than inside just under 69% snaps in the slot in the game sampled. He was on the
6:04line of scrimmage for 55% off it for 45% so you know rather even split but skewing more towards on ball than off of
6:13it. But he still again is in the slot on 29% he's in the backfield at just under 3% so I think if you're getting the
6:20picture here they kind of asked him to play all three receiver positions.
6:24>> Yeah.
6:24>> Right in in this offense last year and obviously we know that it's a more of a vertical offense under John Morton and
6:30sort of the structure that they went to last year in Detroit which they obviously demoted John Morton to begin in the
6:36middle of the season. They've now hired Drew Petzing to be their offensive coordinator. It's still going to relatively look like the same offense
6:43but they were definitely I think a little more vertically inclined last year and they probably want to be >> For sure.
6:47>> going going forward and what they were under Ben Johnson for sure but they still do want to look for explosive
6:52plays and hunt down the field just a little less of the static stuff some of these nine routes that TeSla was running last year but still
7:01asked him to play all three receiver positions and I think that was sort of maybe the thought process for Isaac TeSla is that he had all this experience
7:08playing in the slot so you knew he could play in the slot if he could figure it out. But because he had these athletic
7:13traits and if you go back and look at his college route route success rate chart he actually was really good on the
7:21downfield routes in in limited flashes.
7:24He could separate and get open against man and especially zone coverage down the field. I think maybe that was the thought process was was that he could
7:32play in the slot but also he had skills to actually translate long term to what is kind of the big bodied outside
7:40receiver that they've been looking for I think to complete this room. Which is where I'm guessing they're at with Tezz at right now is that he's the third
7:48receiver. He'll be the third receiver this year. He allows them to play St.
7:52Brown a little bit more outside cuz they have a credible answer in the slot. And for Jameson Williams he Tezz emerging and he he started to
8:02play more snaps in the back half of the year, which of course coincides with Sam LaPorta's injury and Dan Campbell >> Yeah.
8:10>> taking over the play calling. And also to Jameson Williams having these massive first half second half splits. And I I
8:18want to obviously go in and and look at Jameson Williams' season in full, but I did chart a good handful of those those
8:24back half games. It felt It felt like a little he was playing a little bit less on ball than previous seasons, which I
8:32think is good for a guy like Jameson Williams that you want him to get some of these runway routes. So obviously a little bit sacrificial Isaac
8:38Tezz in that way. Um from the X receiver standpoint, but allows them to activate their two other receivers while also having a guy here who showed some
8:47promising ability against zone coverage and being able to win downfield.
8:50>> Uh again, as I mentioned, nearly 26% route participation on the night. Here's the good thing though. Um incredible success rate. You're talking about this
8:58high of a route participation on a just go ahead and go downfield and go win it route. 60 nearly 63% success rate on the
9:07night. That is really really good. Um now I imagine part of that is going to be okay, well defenses are not trying to
9:14stop Isaac Tezz, and that's fine. But still showing that even in those kind of looks, he's going down there and and and winning, right?
9:22And so I think that's really really important. Um 11.6 route participation on the post route, nearly 70% there.
9:30Again, we'd want that just a touch higher, but I think that's totally fine, too. And then on the underneath stuff, man, like 10% route participation on the
9:37slant. Obviously, you'd like to see more there. Uh you'd like to see a higher uh route participation on the slant. Uh but
9:4485% success rate, Matt. Like golly. Um he's he's beating you underneath and he can absolutely dunk on you over the top.
9:53>> Yeah, and we saw obviously saw him dunk on people big-time from like a highlight-reel standpoint, a contested-catch standpoint. That was something that
10:02again for in his limited looks as a collegiate prospect. It was like, "Damn, this guy really can win in tight coverage." And that absolutely
10:10translated >> For sure.
10:12>> uh to his year-one tape. I mean, he was 32% >> player, man. He is a fun fun player.
10:18>> player. I mean, we're not going to go crazy with what the production looks like this year. He caught a pass on 7% of his sampled
10:25routes in Reception Perception. So, um and I think that it probably won't be that dramatic in terms of the uh you
10:33know, low usage he had. I think he will get more football thrown his way this year. Um I think he will be more of a
10:39routine player in the offense. But for the most part, he's what, the fifth target in the passing game, you know, behind St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Sam
10:47LaPorta, Jahmyr Gibbs, then it's Isaac TeSlaa. So, >> I think so.
10:50>> we can't go crazy with statistical the projections here, but I think what you can be happy about is that when he makes plays, he's going
10:59to he's shown he's like a playmaker, right?
11:02>> For sure.
11:02>> Good hands, obviously attacks the foot- ball well, 32% contested target rate. Uh he won five of seven contested catches.
11:10He didn't drop any passes through his sample. So, like I think that he's got good hands and is developing some feel
11:16for zone coverage. You mentioned just 77.2% success rate. That did get better uh as the sample went on. I thought he
11:22really figured out how to like settle uh in the back half of the year. He's a developmental receiver, but already showed like, "Ooh, you know, he's not a
11:31he's not hopeless, right?" Like in your There There's already good proof of concept to the development of this guy and he, unlike a player, again, we're
11:39not talking about him today, but like Al 8 I O'Meara in uh Tennessee last year, he was another guy that I thought was a
11:45developmental receiver and just got pushed into the deep end right away and it didn't go very well. And now you're like, okay, we need to strip it down
11:54before we build him back up, right? Type of player. I think that's the same with uh Dontay Thornton in Las Vegas, another
12:01day three rookie receiver that got pushed into the deep end right away. Now it's like, okay, you know, he's got to fall back in the
12:07pecking order. Whereas with Isaac Teasdale, you get to bring him along slow because of all these guys they have in the room and I think you see that
12:13development kind of like play out over the course of the season.
12:17And And another thing with him, too, is like even if he's just And you know, you sit here and talk about, okay, they
12:22traded all these third-round picks, like they took him ahead of consensus, yada yada yada. But even if he's just a guy
12:26that makes plays when he's called upon and because of an alignment standpoint, he allows you to get more out of two
12:32guys that you've committed big money to and like are on multi-year extensions in Amon-Ra St. Brown and in Jameson Williams. Like I almost think that's a
12:41win in and of itself, especially because of like he's not He's not wasted reps out there. Yes, his role is a little bit
12:47sacrificial. We're talking about a guy who is outside on 69% and on ball for 55% of his snaps and he's running a go
12:54route at this extreme, you know, volume.
12:58>> [laughter] >> Like that is pretty sacrificial, but at the same time, like he did show an ability to get open on other routes. So
13:04that's that's a >> a credible threat.
13:06>> Yeah, he's a credible threat. I like that I like that way of framing it.
13:09>> I don't think he's sacrificial. I think he's a credible threat. I think that's the way I kind of view him. Like Like
13:14he's not like of the Mack Hollins role.
13:16You know what I'm saying? Like where you just like, all right, just run burners down the field and get their safeties
13:20tired or get their secondary tired. Like that's not If he's open, he's going to get the ball. Um and if he And if they
13:27throw him the ball again, he's a credible threat to make a big-time play.
13:31Um, it doesn't always have to be about fantasy football, you know, it doesn't have to be about stats. This And this
13:36And this show is really not focused on that. It's about, okay, if Isaac TeSla develops and takes another step forward, and in his development becomes
13:47um, a a good, solid, reliable X receiver, this room in Detroit becomes one of the scariest, if not the scariest, in the
13:59NFL. Right? You've got an unbelievable receiver in Amon-Ra St. Brown. You have an super explosive player in Jameson Williams. Then you pair Then you pair
14:09that with a third wide receiver who is super explosive, can also win underneath, and is a credible threat along the boundaries. Like, okay, this
14:17is one of the scariest rooms if TeSla develops into a reliable third option in the wide receiver room. But, as you
14:23mentioned, man, like production-wise, uh, you know, he's the fifth option. You know, Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta are going to be in there,
14:30too. I know people are wondering, uh, just because there's been such a heavy, you know, emphasis on 12 personnel and all that kind of stuff. Detroit's kind
14:38of sort of like in the bottom 10-ish in terms of two tight end usage. So, around 15% of their offensive pass plays. I
14:46want to put this in I want to really put this in perspective here. About 15% of their pass plays last year, Matt,
14:54were out of two tight end sets. So, a pretty low number. It's um, anywhere between 10, uh, bottom 10 to bottom 12,
15:02depending on the charting service. So, um, that's kind of sort of where Detroit is. When they pass the ball, they're primarily doing it out of three wide
15:09receiver sets, which is a good thing for Isaac TeSla.
15:13>> Totally. Um, obviously, Drew Petzing definitely a much more heavier coach, right, in previous years.
15:20Um, last year was pretty wacky in Arizona altogether, but um, definitely they could I think they could maybe go a little bit heavier, but yeah, I think
15:27this I think they're a team that actually looks like a a unit that might be poised um, to kind of I don't know, to to sort of sit here and
15:36say, "Hey, like we can maybe go away from the trend a little bit." And and because we have two really good blocking
15:42recei- And honestly, James Williams is like a thin framed guy, but he gives a lot of effort in the run game, too. Like, I think they could
15:49see that.
15:49>> here and say, like we are uh, pretty good for we we can run out of our 11 personnel grouping and because we almost
15:58have, like if TeSla really does develop into this type of guy, they could have almost two guys who, you know, could be
16:03credible like F receivers in St. Brown and TeSla that they could really create like run game mismatches out of their 11
16:10personnel grouping because TeSla, as we we keep saying, he's a viable threat.
16:14And we know Jared Goff like wants to throw that football over the middle of the field. They want to run play action
16:18on the in-breaking routes. Drew Petzing, that's what he wanted to do in Arizona, as well. Think it's it's sort of in his
16:23DNA, um, sort of as a as a play caller and everything there. Uh, and like that was something that stood out for TeSla,
16:30especially again, as the year went along. 26% route percentage uh, on dig routes and 71.2% success rate. Like, both of those numbers continued to tick
16:42up and that's sort of what I think they're hoping the next step is. And bottom line is, too, like I think for
16:46Detroit, I don't really know how I fe- I don't really know how I feel about the Lions this year. The NFC North is kind of hard
16:51to handicap right now in terms of which >> really is.
16:53>> who's going to win it. But, I think for the Lions to sort of stay in this window, they kind of need more guys like this to emerge on
17:01their roster. I I, you know, maybe other people disagree with me. I think it's a little bit of a top-heavy roster right
17:06now where they have obviously really good big name players.
17:10Um, and like, okay, I'm this is this is this is not even like faint praise. This is real praise. But, like some of their
17:16best some of their best their hits have all become like their best players, right?
17:20But they almost don't necessarily have like a middle class of their roster. And I kind of hope think that you're hoping
17:26that Isaac TeSlaa becomes like a middle class of the roster player, like a glue guy that brings the room together on
17:33offense that kind of gets them back into the vision in an area that where they were the few years prior to 2025. So,
17:39yeah, he's an interesting role player for this team that I think will be um him. I I really like him a lot after
17:48this kind of charting out and and like also by the way, hey, St. Brown misses games, James Williams misses games, you
17:54got somebody who can like really step in here cuz they haven't necessarily had a player like that on the roster the last
17:59few years.
