Rookie Report Card: Gardner Minshew and Miles Boykin
Each week throughout the season, I’ll cover at least two rookies in the Rookie Report Card and try to always include the biggest performers from that particular week. On top of reviewing my expectations for each player coming into the league and how well he’s lived up to those expectations at the NFL level to this point, I’ll grade the player in three categories. Those categories are performance to date, 2019 potential and long term upside.
The series continues this week as we highlight rookies Gardner Minshew and Miles Boykin.
Gardner Minshew, QB JAX
Week Four Stats: 19/33 passing (57.6%), 213 passing yards, two touchdowns, one carry, two rushing yards.
Considering all of the hype surrounding Minshew over the last handful of weeks, it’s difficult to believe he was a relatively unknown to most during the pre-draft process.
Going from Northwest Mississippi Community College to back up at East Carolina for a couple years and at the 11th hour to Washington State to start for the Cougars as a senior, he stunned most when he completed more than 70% of his passes for 4,779 yards, 38 touchdowns and just nine interceptions. Despite those impressive numbers however, he was considered by most to be an undersized, “system” quarterback prospect with below average arm strength.
Personally, I didn’t know a thing about him until late in his senior season when his name was mentioned in a Heisman article I read. Coming off a seven touchdown pass game against Arizona, I tuned in to watch him play Washington and he looked awful. Constantly checking the ball down, forcing passes into coverage and struggling to have a feel for the pass rush, he appeared in over his head. After finishing the game completing 26 of 35 passes for 152 yards and throwing two interceptions, I wasn’t encouraged about his NFL prospects.
That performance stuck with me throughout the off-season and I never gave him another look. He never cracked my rookie rankings. Not even the top ten quarterbacks. Instead, I chose to rank players like Jarrett Stidham and Easton Stick over him.
It appears I made the mistake of looking at too small of a sample size. That game didn’t show Minchew’s competitiveness, quick delivery and incredibly consistent accuracy. More than anything else, his anticipation when making decisions with the football appears as good as any young quarterback coming into the league over the past handful of seasons.
Through four NFL games (three starts), he has completed 69.4% of his passes for 226 YPG, seven touchdowns and just one interceptions. He’s also added 82 rushing yards on 12 carries. If it weren’t for the mustache and the headband, I wouldn’t believe it was the same player under center for the Jaguars as the one playing against Washington last November.
Having watched each of his 121 passes as a pro, I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been impressed. He’s evaded the rush, delivered the ball with anticipation and accuracy, and hasn’t put the ball in harm’s way. His touchdown pass to Ryquell Armstead on Sunday was incredible. Holding the ball for more than 7.5 seconds, dodging rushers and feathering a perfect pass to the running back in the corner of the end zone is the play that defines the magic surrounding Minshew to this point in his young career.
Not surprisingly, the hype has spilled into the dynasty community. An afterthought in rookie drafts over the summer – even in many super-flex leagues – he’s now being traded for future second round draft picks in such leagues. And after another solid performance against the Broncos, that price is almost sure to rise.
Despite slowly becoming a fan of everything he is doing, I’d be very interested in trading him in super-flex and 2QB leagues, considering those prices. And if I were ever offered a future first for him, I wouldn’t hesitate to click accept.
Miles Boykin, WR BAL
Week Four Stats: Three receptions, 32 receiving yards, one touchdown reception (three targets).
Many struggled to rank Boykin this summer. Watching him at Notre Dame was maddening at times. Sometimes quick out of his breaks for a guy his size (6’4”, 220 pounds) and elite at the catch point – particularly on jump balls, and other times looking un-athletic and disinterested, it was difficult to project his upside in the months leading up to the draft.
When Boykin ran a 4.42 40-yard dash and posted a 43.5 inch vertical jump and the fastest three-cone time (6.77) among wide receivers at the combine, things changed. Dynasty owners took notice. His stock began to spike as he moved into the second round of some rookie drafts.
When he was selected by Baltimore (after they traded up to get him) at the end of the third round of the draft, however, mixed feelings crept back into dynasty owners’ minds. The Ravens deploy a run-first offense, and they had already invested a first rounder into the position (Marquise Brown). He settled into the middle of the third round of dynasty rookie drafts.
Even after a training camp full of glowing reports about Boykin being the best receiver in camp, dynasty owners remained leery. Perhaps because he was being compared to the likes of Willie Snead, Seth Roberts and Michael Floyd but most likely, it was a run-first offense, defensive minded head coach, running quarterback and his inconsistencies in college that kept dynasty owners from investing heavily in Boykin.
Through four games with the Ravens, he hasn’t done anything to change the opinion of most dynasty owners, one way or another. He’s caught all eight of his targets for 48 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but is sharing time with Snead and Chris Moore behind Brown in an offense that isn’t expected to air the ball out as much as their statistics to this point might suggest.
While his supporters will say that he needs time to develop into the red-zone threat and possession receiver that his upside suggests, the naysayers will continue to point to Baltimore’s offense and quarterback, as well as his lack of consistency as a route runner and at holding onto catchable passes as reasons not to invest in the rookie.
While I’d love to point to a particular route or catch that he executed or failed to execute as a reason to make a move on him, it’s simply too early to do so. Most likely, the Boykin owner in your league is a believer in his WR3 fantasy upside so unless you’re willing to give more than the third rounder he or she used on him, he’s unlikely to be available. Perhaps it’s the ghost of Josh Doctson (who Boykin reminded me of at times at Notre Dame) that keeps me from being all in, but I wouldn’t spend a second rounder to add the former Golden Domer.
- League Tycoon: Dynasty Salary Cap Fantasy Football - December 15, 2023
- Final Dynasty Rookie Report Card: Wide Receivers, Part Two - March 22, 2023
- 2023 NFL Scouting Combine: Offensive Player Dynasty Review - March 10, 2023
