Rookie SWOT: Tyler Boyd

Editor’s Note: As our coverage of the 2016 NFL Draft and its impact on fantasy football continues, we bring you our 2016 Rookie SWOT series. These articles will feature video highlights, combine reviews, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, short-term expectations, long-term expectations and rookie draft advice for over 30 of the best dynasty league prospects from this year’s draft. We’ll follow that up with team-by-team draft reviews because, you know, that’s kind of what we live for.

Make sure you’re ready for your dynasty league rookie draft by staying up on all these articles, checking out our rookie draft guide, rookie rankings, rookie draft cheat sheet and mock draft rooms. There are simply no better resources out there for dynasty fantasy football enthusiasts.

Name: Tyler Boyd

Position: Wide Receiver

Pro Team: Cincinnati Bengals

College Team: Pittsburgh Panthers

Draft Status: Round Two, Pick #55 Overall

Video Highlights

Combine Review

Height: 6’1’’

Weight: 197 pounds

Hands: 9.75’’

Arm Length: 32”

40-Yard Dash: 4.58

20-Yard Shuttle: 4.35

3-Cone Drill: 6.90

Vertical Jump: 34’’

Broad Jump: 119’’

Strengths

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Boyd is a very polished route runner, as he’s very good at sinking his hips to get in and out of his breaks. He’s a technician when it comes to setting up the defensive back with his footwork to create separation. His superb route running should help create a seamless transition to the NFL. Boyd’s vice-grip like hands makes it easy for him to catch balls away from his body. He’s very aggressive at the catch point and he has a “my ball” mentality when catching the ball in traffic. He is bringing elite college production with him into the league by catching 254 receptions for 3,361 yards and 21 touchdowns during his collegiate career.

Weaknesses

Boyd is not a deep threat because he lacks the necessary speed to create separation downfield, causing him to have trouble beating defensive backs on deeper routes. He’s not an elite athlete, therefore he has to rely on technique to win against the defender. He has a tall thin frame and he lacks the strength to break tackles and out muscle defensive backs to beat press coverage. Off the field issues are a concern – he was arrested and charged for a DUI in June of 2015 causing him to be suspended for the season opener against Youngstown State.

Opportunities

The Bengals spent significant draft capital selecting Boyd in the second round of this year’s draft which should force them to give Boyd every opportunity to succeed. Cincinnati is one of the best landing spots for him because he will be playing on the opposite side of A.J. Green which would allowing him to face softer coverages. Andy Dalton isn’t polarizing, but he’s very efficient, he finished eighth in the NFL in completion percentage (66.1). Dalton and Boyd should gel well together when it comes to connecting on short to intermediate routes.

Threats

There’s a lot of competition in Cincinnati for targets. The offense runs through A.J. Green and he’s going to get his cake and eat it too by commanding a large market share of the offense. Not only will Boyd have to compete for targets against one of the top receivers in the league but he will have to compete with arguably one of the top tight ends in the NFL as well. Tyler Eifert saw 74 targets last season averaging 5.69 targets per game, he owns a large portion of the offense which is going to make it hard for Boyd to capture a large market share of the passing offense.

Brandon LaFell is the forgotten soldier in the equation, he has the potential to prevent Boyd from creating an immediate impact in the offense. He’s not a tremendous talent but if he plays well enough in training camp he could potentially steal targets and snaps away from Boyd.

Short-term Expectations

If he can hit the ground running by picking up the offense quickly and have a strong training camp, then he should be lining up opposite of A.J. Green as the second receiver by week one. I would expect volatile fantasy production during the first couple seasons of his career until he gets settled in with the offense. There’s a lot of competition within the offense for targets and he has to earn Andy Dalton’s trust before he becomes a key component for the team.

Long-term Expectations

He’s an exceptional route runner and he will have one of the best wide receivers in the NFL to take some of the pressure off of him. Due to his lack of athleticism, he’s not going blow up the box score on a weekly basis but he does have the potential to be a solid WR2 in fantasy. Potentially, down the road, his workload could increase when A.J. Green’s talents starts to diminish due to his age, creating more opportunities within the offense.

Rookie Draft Advice

Boyd is a safe pick and the odds of him becoming a complete bust are highly unlikely. He was highly productive in college and he is a tremendous route runner, so he should adapt to the NFL rather quickly. According to DLF’s 2016 Rookie ADP, Boyd is being selected around the 1.9 range in rookie drafts which is a fair price to pay since he’s a prospect who is essentially pro-ready and is in an offense that could potentially be a good fit for him.

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