Tyler Boyd, WR Pittsburgh: 2016 NFL Draft Scouting Report

In Tyler Boyd’s very first collegiate football game he had 2 catches for 26 yards, 3 rushes for 54 yards and 3 kick returns for 71 yards. While none of those stats are outstanding on their own it showed the versatility and need to get the true freshman wide receiver on the field in some capacity. That 2013 season would go on to see Boyd have 9 games of 80 or more receiving yards on his way to over 1100 yards on the season and 85 receptions. Since then he’s accounted for over 2000 yards receiving and more than 400 yards rushing as 2015 has seen him running the ball more often than past years. Boyd has good but not great speed and doesn’t have as much bulk as some of the other top receivers coming out in this class but he does a lot of the little things well and has been doing them consistently over his 3 year college career.

Strengths

Consistency. The numbers he has put up are behind 3 different starting quarterbacks in every year that he’s been playing. None of the quarterbacks were particularly better than the next for Boyd, in fact all 3 quarterbacks for Boyd’s career averaged 191 yards passing per game. For Boyd? He averaged 88 yards receiving per game for his 3 year career. That accounts for 46% of the Pittsburgh Panthers aerial attack coming through Tyler Boyd. In order to account for 46% you have to be able to be the 46% and on just about every other pass Boyd was the go to guy. Aside from him being a stat machine Boyd is particularly great at what his position calls for, catching. Tyler Boyd has some of the best hands I’ve seen in this class and it’s not often he loses his concentration when making some of the tougher catches

Another great attribute of Boyd’s is his awareness and football IQ. He takes what he can get and is able to make the tough sideline catches that many receivers struggle to complete. If I had to make a list of receivers who have the most complete game going into the draft I’d definitely throw Tyler Boyd on there. He’s a guy who has the ability to come in and compete day 1.

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Weaknesses

This one’s not entirely his fault but the amount that he’s been used at running back causes some concern. This year he received 40 carries and missed his first game as a college player, I don’t think the hits he took as a back will cause any true issues but his slim frame didn’t need to take some of those shots. If he could add a few more pounds it would definitely help his stock, especially if he were closer to the 210 pound range than the sub 200.

Outlook

I think Tyler Boyd is one of the few receivers who will be even better than what his college stats predict simply because he’s never really had a quarterback to throw him the football. He’s a great athlete and in the top 3 of his position, aside from his weight it’s hard to knock anything about his game. He has all the talent to be a first round pick but needs may push him into the second round, regardless, whichever teams selects the Pitt receiver will have a more than ready player for years to come.

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