Tyler Boyd is a wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals. Boyd hails from Clairton, Pennsylvania, where he played his high school football at Clairton High School. He was a four-star recruit coming out of high school and elected to stay close to home to play at the University of Pittsburgh. Boyd immediately stepped onto campus as a difference-maker. In his freshman season, he brought in 85 receptions, 1,174 yards, and seven touchdowns. More of the same production followed the next two years. Over that span, Boyd put up 159 receptions, 2,187 yards, and 14 touchdowns. He put up an elite 42.7-percent college dominator rating (87th-percentile), 39.8-percent college target share (99th-percentile), and 18.8-year-old breakout age (92nd-percentile) as well.
Those numbers made Tyler Boyd an appealing draft prospect and ultimately the 55th overall selection in the 2nd round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. Boyd is not a burner (4.58 40-yard dash) and did not make an impact in the pros as early as he did in college, but he eventually found his way. His breakout came in his third season in 2018, where he brought in 76 of 108 targets that went for 1,028 yards and seven touchdowns. He essentially ran those numbers back in 2019. He finished those seasons as the WR17 and WR23, respectively. With a new rookie quarterback in Joe Burrow and the addition of rookie receiver Tee Higgins, Boyd’s overall numbers took a step back in 2020 and again in 2021 after the Bengals drafted rookie sensation Ja’Marr Chase. After back-to-back 100-yard seasons, Boyd went for 841 in 828 yards the two previous seasons.
That doesn’t mean that Tyler Boyd’s performance has diminished, however. He just sticks what he's good at: operating out of the slot. Boyd’s 582 slot snaps were first among all wide receivers. He doesn't go deep; he registered just seven deep ball targets and 690 air yards. But, he generated 1.95 yards of target separation, a number that finished 12th among receivers. After getting that separation, he knew what to do with it. His 371 yards after the catch finished 21st among receivers as well. All that led to him posting 8.8 yards per target, which ranked 29th at the position. That culminated in Boyd finishing as the WR33 in fantasy football in 2021, up from the WR38 his ADP slotted him at. Tyler Boyd is an important cog of Cincinnati’s offense and a key factor to their 2021 Super Bowl run. After signing a four-year $43 million contract extension before the 2019 season, Boyd will continue to be part of this Bengals franchise for at least two more seasons.
