Tyrie
Cleveland.
Tyrie
Cleveland.
Florida· 6'2"· 209 lb· 4.46s 40
"Denver drafted Florida's big, fast receiver at No. 252 for special teams, and he played three seasons as a gunner and depth receiver before stints on practice squads."Pre-draft read
Cleveland was an outside receiver in Florida's offense, a 6-2, roughly 209-pounder who averaged 16.1 yards per catch for his career. His primary trait was vertical speed: he stretched defenses on go routes and posts, averaging 21.3 yards per catch as a freshman and 18.6 as a sophomore.
His secondary trait was special teams value, where his size and speed made him an effective gunner. His route running was limited and his production was modest, never topping 25 catches in a season. His signature was the 63-yard Hail Mary touchdown he caught as time expired to beat Tennessee in 2017, one of the most famous plays in Florida history.
Vertical passing offense with a strong special teams unit that values a big, fast gunner and deep threat.
Year 1: special teams gunner and fifth receiver. Ceiling: core special teamer and depth deep threat.
Timing-based offense that needs a receiver to win consistently on short and intermediate routes.
His path to a roster ran through special teams.
Florida QB Feleipe Franks hits Tyrie Cleveland with no time left to beat Tennessee in 2017
His 63-yard Hail Mary against Tennessee.
Tyrie Cleveland Career Highlights
His four seasons at Florida.
Tyrie Cleveland | WR | FLORIDA GATORS | OFFSEASON WORKOUTS
Offseason training footage.
Cleveland projected as a big, fast receiver whose limited production and route polish made him a late-round special teams and depth option. Evaluators liked his size, straight-line speed and coverage-unit ability, but questioned his hands and his ability to separate on shorter routes.
He played four seasons at Florida, catching 79 passes for 1,271 yards and eight touchdowns in 46 games. He caught 14 passes for 298 yards as a freshman and 22 for 410 yards as a sophomore, when he hauled in the 63-yard Hail Mary to beat Tennessee as time expired. His production stalled as a junior and senior, with 18 catches in 2018 and 25 for 351 yards in 2019, as Florida spread targets across a deep receiver group. The flags were his limited route tree, inconsistent hands and flat production.
Most boards viewed him as a late-round or undrafted receiver with special teams value. Denver took him at No. 252 for his speed and coverage-unit ability. The Broncos wanted a gunner who could also offer size on the outside, and his experience against SEC competition gave him a head start on NFL special teams.
- 01
Vertical speed
Stretched defenses on go routes and posts, averaging 21.3 yards per catch as a freshman and 16.1 for his career.
- 02
Size
At 6-2 and about 209 pounds he had the frame to fight through contact and win on the outside against press.
- 03
Special teams value
His size and speed made him an effective gunner, a role that gave him a path to an NFL roster.
- 04
Big-moment catches
Caught a 63-yard Hail Mary as time expired to beat Tennessee in 2017, one of Florida's signature plays.
- 05
Experience
Played 46 games over four seasons in the SEC, arriving with extensive snaps against top competition.
- 01
Limited production
Never caught more than 25 passes in a season, leaving scouts little evidence as a volume receiver.
- 02
Route polish
Ran a limited route tree and struggled to separate on short and intermediate routes against tight coverage.
- 03
Inconsistent hands
Had focus drops that undercut his big-play ability and his reliability as a regular target.
- 04
Flat development
His production dipped as a junior and senior instead of growing, raising questions about his ceiling.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.46sp50
- Vertical
- 39.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 126inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- 13repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Florida | 11 | 14 | 298 | 2 |
| 2017 | Florida | 10 | 22 | 410 | 2 |
| 2018 | Florida | 12 | 18 | 212 | 3 |
| 2019 | Florida | 13 | 25 | 351 | 1 |
| Career | — | 46 | 79 | 1271 | 8 |
Season and career receiving from Sports-Reference, matching StatMuse's career 79 catches, 1,271 yards and eight receiving touchdowns. StatMuse lists 44 games versus 46 on Sports-Reference and The Football Database; 46 is used.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
The realized outcome: a special teams player and depth receiver.
Receiver who built a long career as an elite special teams gunner.
Final-pick receiver who faded from the league after a brief role.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Cleveland played three seasons for Denver, appearing in 10 games in 2020, seven in 2021 and six in 2022, mostly as a special teams gunner and depth receiver behind the starting group. He finished his Broncos run with 23 games, then spent time with Philadelphia in 2023 and Indianapolis in 2024 without appearing in a regular-season game.
In hindsight the pick returned about what a No. 252 selection usually does. The size and speed evaluators praised earned him three seasons on Denver's roster through special teams, while the limited production and route polish flagged before the draft kept him from a meaningful receiving role. He never became a regular part of the Denver passing game or caught on as a starter, but he stayed in the league for five seasons across three organizations, a solid outcome for one of the last picks in the draft. His Hail Mary against Tennessee remains his defining football moment.