As reported Tuesday afternoon, WR Miles Boykin was released from waivers by the Pittsburgh Steelers after being released by the team that drafted him, the Baltimore Ravens. It’s a typical “Steelers move,” Boykin claims, since the organization had a lot of interest in preliminary designs when he arrived from Notre Dame in 2019. At nearly 6 feet 4 inches and 220 pounds, Boykin lit up the NFL combine with a 4.42-40 with a 43.5-inch vertical, an 11’8 long jump and impressive shuttle times. Now, at just 25, the Steelers can take on the freak athlete. With that, here’s a breakdown of what Boykin put on tape during his relatively disappointing first three years in the NFL.
GOOD
— Good breakout from the line of scrimmage
— Demonstrates vertical stacking ability
— Understands how to manipulate corner leverage, particularly on posts
— Smooth and has good acceleration through cuts
— Long, stretched frame enables a large catch radius
— Can use power to overcome physical curves
— Will use size and power to consistently fall forward after catching
— Has the “want” in blocking play
— 417 total special teams snap up in career
BAD
— Restricted route tree shown in the movie
— Can be awkward to catch the soccer ball
— Not many controversial catches are shown in the NFL
— Not dynamic after the catch
— Gives up on routes when he thinks he’s not open
— More drops than you want to see on limited targets
– Was clear he wasn’t on the same page with QB at times
FILM SERVICE
In 2021, Miles Boykin was limited to just eight games because of a hamstring injury. While paralyzed by injury (pun very much intended), Boykin found himself buried in the depth chart. Aside from his only catch for six yards in 2021, Boykin was primarily a special team for the Ravens in his sophomore year. After failing to trade him, Baltimore decided to cut the bait. Due to its lack of usage in 2021, we’ll be focusing primarily on Boykin’s 2020 band, let’s dive in.
With the Steelers offensively longing for a deep threat on that offense, the first thing we’ll talk about is Boykin’s ability to expand the field. Down against Cincinnati, Boykin is sent on a post route outside of game action. He is able to use his long strides to quickly eat up the corner cushion. Just as the corner opens the gate to the outside, Boykin explodes inward, seemingly not losing speed. This results in a “baseball spin” from the DB, leaving Boykin wide open to catch the deep touchdown pass.
While he didn’t show it on the previous rep, I always make sure the receiver understands cornerback leverage and how to manipulate it. Here, Boykin can press on the cornerback’s outside shoulder, causing him to stretch. Once he reaches the corner to expand, he explodes with a “Bam-Step” into the space he just created for himself. While he’s not getting the ball here, he must note his willingness to chase the quarterback in scramble drills as well.
Boykin also demonstrates the ability to stack defenders vertically. He has a great first step and burst off the line. Both times, he’s able to use his quickness and acceleration to dodge defenders before going vertical. Unfortunately, he was not rewarded with a catchable ball on any replay.
Boykin is gifted with 33 1/2″ arms and they come in handy on plays like this where he needs to show off his catch radius.
Boykin shows great fluidity on the tape. Most of the tracks he ran in Baltimore were speeding, drags and deep overs, all tracks that allow you to carry your speed without definitive cuts. With this he is able to open a barrel but not always on target as seen below. That would have been an easy touchdown if Lamar Jackson hadn’t had another wide open receiver on the other side of the field.
I have to apologize because most of Boykin’s impressive bond has actually been on games he never got to football. Most of his catches have been on easy stop routes in zones or overs as I mentioned above which doesn’t show much other than a routine catch. As a route runner he is definitely raw as his route tree was extremely easy in Baltimore. He couldn’t really show much more than in Notre Dame. When he left, there weren’t many anticipatory shots for him from the outside. We can now dive into why that might be.
In this comeback, Boykin is caught looking at the cornerback who breaks the ball. He’s also seemingly late with his break and turns around. You can see him take an extra step up after collapsing and THEN he gets his head around. That extra step should have been out, with his head snapping back toward the quarterback. This extra is all it takes to turn a third down conversion into an interception.
Here’s another example where Boykin and Jackson weren’t on the same page. On the 3rd and 12th Boykin is on a border route. The cornerback is in a pedal and has good positioning from the snap. At the 43-yard line, Boykin begins to widen his route and shut down. That body language and the leverage of the corner causes Jackson to throw the shoulder back. Except Boykin never looks back until he’s at the opposite 40 yard line.
This type of play needs to be repeated over and over in practice with your quarterback, but given the overall context of the game, it should be an easy decision for Boykin to expect and WANT a back shoulder here. It’s the kind of game where Chase Claypool and Ben Roethlisberger weren’t on the same page multiple times during Claypool’s frustrating 2021 campaign.
The Ravens obviously love their third-down 50/50 balls as much as the Steelers. Here’s another try where Boykin just gives up on the play altogether, considering himself to be covered. Because of this, it looks like Jackson might just throw it away.
From the tape I watched, Boykin has the power, speed and ability to fight through that contact and break the sidelines. For some reason he didn’t want to bother here. If he does, that ball can be caught by Jackson.
I went through all 33 Boykins targets in 2020 and those were all the drops I could find. I wouldn’t classify any of these as “easy” or “routine” drops, but they are plays that should be made by an NFL-caliber wide receiver, especially one lacking in opportunities.
The drop rate is calculated using drops per catchable target. Although I didn’t calculate the “catchable targets,” simply deviating from his 33 targets would be 9.1%, which would greatly improve Boykin’s drop rate. For reference, Diontae Johnson’s drop rate in 2020 when he was leading the NFL in drops was 9.0%.
Back to good with Boykin. If you’re reading my 2021 weekly wide receiver movie rooms, I’m talking about one thing the Steelers wide receivers don’t have downfield blocking on. This is an area where I think Boykin can really excel and help this receiver space. He’s been a willing blocker since his days at Notre Dame, and that didn’t change when he came on Baltimore’s run-heavy offense.
Watch below, Boykin at the top of the screen. He runs a curl and doesn’t get the football. The ball goes up into the deep over route about five meters from its location. Boykin could take the easy route and say, “I don’t want to get in my guy’s way, I’m five feet behind him.” Doing what I call “being a spectator.” Instead, he’ll run ahead of the ball carrier and referee the cornerback, probably allowing his man to gain 10-15 more yards in the process.
I don’t want to tease Chase Claypool all the time, but I did credit him a few times last year specifically for being a spectator on plays like this. Not only does it drop yards on the field, but it also adds more hits for guys like Najee Harris in the process.
The last thing I wanted to address is the capabilities of Miles Boykin’s special team. In case you didn’t know, Raven’s head coach, John Harbaugh, was a special teams coordinator before he was hired at Baltimore. Also, he often fieldes some of the best special teams year after year, which shows me he doesn’t just put anyone out there. In his three NFL seasons, Boykin has accumulated 417 special team snaps. Those are the kinds of numbers a guy needs to stay on as a fifth or sixth receiver on an NFL roster.
I’ve pulled out Boykin’s two 2020 special teams tackles for you to check out. While nothing spectacular, they included him in the stats.
Baltimore also used Boykin on a fake punt. Boykin, lined up as the shooter at the bottom of the screen, has a nice takeoff and tosses past the top of the curl. He can catch it for fourth down conversion.
CONCLUSION
Overall, Miles Boykin is exactly what the title says, a project. He has the tools to become an effective role player in the NFL. At this point, it’s hard to expect him to be much more than your average NFL starter when the need arises, but that’s a role Pittsburgh needs right now. If Boykin is able to create the squad, I could see him as a depth piece at the Z position that can be used in the event of a Claypool injury, giving them some flexibility in moving Claypool.
His special teams and blocking skills give him a huge head start to create this roster. While just looking at the athletic make-up and playing style may remind you a bit of Claypool, his defensive skills and special teams experience have cut him from the same cloth as Cody White. That’s the two of them, at this point I think they end up fighting for the last roster spot at wide receiver. However, the tie there usually goes to the player with the higher total cap (Boykin in this case).
This signing is nothing more than simply risking a player with some rare traits that you might be able to remodel. It doesn’t change the draft plan at all and in the worst case you can cut it before the first week. No damage, no foul.
What are your thoughts on the Steelers signing Miles Boykin? See how he impresses in the Steelers’ wide receiver room? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below and thanks again for reading!