Meet Tyler Boyd, the 2016 NFL Draft's Top WR Heading into Next Season
Twelve years after Larry Fitzgerald was the No. 3 overall pick of the 2004 NFL draft, the Pittsburgh Panthers could have another wide receiver come off the board very early in the 2016 draft, with Tyler Boyd ranking as the top prospect at his position heading into the 2015 college football season.
Boyd, who is listed at 6’2” and 190 pounds on Pittsburgh’s official athletics website, has a dynamic combination of speed and agility that enables him to make plays all over the field. Perhaps the most well-rounded receiver in the nation, Boyd projects to make an immediate impact in the NFL in 2016.
On 78 receptions, Boyd accumulated 1,261 receiving yards last season, the fourth-most among Football Bowl Subdivision receivers who returned to school this year, and eight touchdowns.
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Those numbers, which followed up an 85-catch, 1,174-yard freshman year, are impressive by themselves. Even more impressive, however, was Boyd’s market-share production last season. On a run-heavy offense led by a shaky quarterback (Chad Voytik), Boyd completed the 2014 season with more than 41 percent of Pittsburgh’s total catches, 52 percent of the team’s receiving yards and 47 percent of the team’s touchdown receptions.
| Name | Receptions | Yards | Touchdowns |
| Tyler Boyd | 78 | 1261 | 8 |
| Rest of Team | 110 | 1156 | 9 |
Given the opportunity to play in an NFL offense, in which he should have the advantage of much better quarterback play and teammates to draw coverages around him, Boyd has the tools to potentially follow in Fitzgerald’s footsteps and become a star.
A Dangerous Weapon in Many Ways
Speed is a highly valued factor in the predraft evaluation of a wide receiver prospect. That part of the equation should presumably only help Boyd.
Like a sprinter coming out of the blocks, he shows a natural ability to accelerate out of his stance and get up to speed quickly.
The velocity at which Boyd can move makes him a threat to win deep at any time. That was never more apparent than in the first quarter of Pittsburgh’s win against Virginia Tech this past season, when Boyd burned Hokies cornerback Kendall Fuller—also a projected first-round pick in the 2016 draft—up the seam for a long catch en route to a 54-yard touchdown.
Against top-level cornerbacks in the NFL, Boyd likely won’t be able to use his speed to separate from coverages the way he does against collegiate opponents, but there’s more to his game than just speed that makes him a dangerous downfield weapon.
Exhibiting an innate ability to track the ball with his eyes and position himself to make a play, Boyd can skillfully employ his body control and length to attack passes in the air and haul them in, even when he is covered or when he has to make a difficult adjustment to the football.
An excellent example of that skill came last season against Duke, when Boyd was covered deep over the middle by not one but two Blue Devils defensive backs. He still managed to make a play on the ball through contact for a 48-yard reception.
Boyd is far more than just a deep receiver, however. He is a threat to scythe through defenses at all levels of the field, as well as on special teams.
When working as an intermediate receiver, Boyd consistently shows an understanding of where the line-to-make is on crucial downs and runs his routes accordingly. Possessing the agility to quickly stop his feet and change directions, he is often able to gain separation with the rapidity of his route breaks.
Body can also be very effective in the short passing game. Frequently utilized on bubble screens at Pittsburgh, his acceleration enables him to gain chunks of yardage in short order, while he also has the lateral agility and moves to make defenders miss in space.
Those qualities also give Boyd high playmaking upside on kickoff and punt returns, both capacities in which he has gained experience during his first two seasons at Pittsburgh. He has only one return touchdown in his collegiate career and might not project as an NFL regular in either area, but his versatility to pitch in on special teams as needed only bolsters his value.
Physically, he has the makeup of a special talent. Paul Chryst, who was Pittsburgh's head coach during Boyd's first two collegiate seasons, says the wide receiver also has the attitude to be great.
“Guys look at him and to him to see how he is going to respond,” Chryst said last November, according to Jerry DiPaola of TribLive.com. “There's no doubt in my mind that he wants one thing, and that's for this team to win, and I think we have other guys like that.”
Boyd, per DiPaola, "said he tries to set an example, often getting vocal in the huddle during crucial moments."
“I'm a game-changer,” Boyd told DiPaola. “That's what I try to do for the team. I'm trying to better everybody else around me, and I hope everybody else around me is taking that in.”
How Early Could Boyd Be Drafted?
Highly productive in college with explosive athleticism, ability to extend plays in the open field and versatility to play a variety of roles, Boyd projects as a comparable prospect to former Clemson wideout Sammy Watkins, who was the first wide receiver drafted and the No. 4 overall pick in 2014.
To reach the same heights as a prospect as Watkins and Amari Cooper, who followed Watkins as the No. 4 overall pick and top wide receiver selected in 2015, Boyd must continue to become a more polished route-runner and a more consistent pass-catcher.
Boyd is already skilled enough in both areas to be successful in the NFL, but he would benefit from additional diversity in his route-running. He has also suffered from occasional drops, including a costly one late in Pittsburgh’s Armed Forces Bowl defeat to Houston last season.
Boyd, who struggles as a blocker, will be expected to continue adding bulk to his frame as he moves closer to the NFL. While he is currently listed at 190 pounds, he will ideally need to weigh closer to 210 pounds—without sacrificing any speed or agility in the process—to maximize his draft stock.
As it currently stands, neither Boyd nor any other wide receivers in the 2016 draft class deserve to be held in the same regard as Cooper, Kevin White or DeVante Parker, who were all top-14 picks in 2015, or Watkins, Mike Evans and Odell Beckham Jr., who each went in the top 11 of the 2014 draft.
With at least one full collegiate season still to play, however, the rising junior certainly has the tools to establish himself as a solid top-15 selection, if not a top-five or top-10 pick, during the 2015 season.
That’s not to say that Boyd doesn’t have competition to be the top wide receiver drafted in 2016, assuming he declares. His toughest competition could come from Ole Miss wideout Laquon Treadwell.
A five-star recruit who has been productive in each of his first two collegiate seasons, Treadwell is an excellent talent who is very good at taking advantage of his size and is also, like Boyd, dangerous in changing directions and making plays in the open field. Treadwell’s draft stock is somewhat up in the air heading into the 2015 season, however, as he has to prove he is healthy after suffering a fractured fibula and dislocated ankle last year.
Other wide receiver prospects with first-round potential for 2016 include Notre Dame junior Corey Robinson, who has a terrific package of size and athleticism and is the son of NBA legend David Robinson; Colorado State junior Rashard Higgins, who led the FBS in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns last season; plus a number of other talented wideouts, including Auburn senior D’haquille Williams, LSU junior Travin Dural, Ohio State junior Michael Thomas and Clemson junior Mike Williams.
Teams who value size among specific traits at the wide receiver position might prefer Robinson, assuming he raises his production in his junior season, or Treadwell, who is not much larger than Boyd at 6’2” and 210 pounds but exhibits more strength and blocking ability.
Among other draft rankings, CBSSports.com currently ranks Boyd as the No. 1 wide receiver prospect in the junior class, while WalterFootball.com ranks him as the 2016 draft’s top wideout. Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller ranks Boyd as the No. 3 wide receiver in his preseason 2016 draft rankings, behind Treadwell and Robinson, but does list Boyd as the “Best Slot Receiver” and “Best Route-Runner” in the class.
In December, ESPN.com's Steve Muench and Kevin Weidl ranked Boyd as the No. 20 underclassman in college football, behind only Treadwell among wide receivers on the list.
"He is a smooth and flexible athlete who runs fluid routes and has a strong feel for the position," Muench and Weidl wrote. "Boyd has excellent overall ball skills, showing the body control to adjust to throws outside of his frame, and will often make the tough catch look routine."
In comparison to the past two drafts, Boyd is more similar to Cooper and Watkins while Treadwell and Robinson are more comparable to White, Parker and Evans.
It is likely that Treadwell, Robinson or other wide receivers will generate significant hype over the course of the 2015 season, some perhaps more than Boyd if they have better size or other physical traits. Nonetheless, Boyd should still have a great shot at becoming the 2016 NFL draft’s top receiver if he can maintain his ranking as the draft class' most well-rounded wideout through the 2015 college football season.
This article is part of a series on the projected top prospects at each position for the 2016 NFL draft. Also read:
All statistics courtesy of Pittsburgh's official athletics website unless otherwise noted. All GIFs made at Gfycat using videos from Draft Breakdown.
Dan Hope is an NFL/NFL Draft Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
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