Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd is the key to all of the team’s offensive woes.
Or so says Bengals head coach Zac Taylor and pretty much anyone in the team’s orbit who gets a microphone shoved in their face.
It’s not hard to see why, either. Boyd has just 15 catches on 23 targets over five games, the lowest work rate he’s seen since his first two seasons in the league.
And during a loss to the Ravens in which Tee Higgins re-injured an ankle, Boyd saw just four targets, catching three for 32 yards.
Bengals coaches know this has to change.
“That’s something we need to do,” Taylor said, according to Jay Morrison of The Athletic. “He’s a key part of this offense. He does everything we ask him to do. That’s in the run and pass games and asking him to make key blocks. Overall, my confidence in TB hasn’t changed. The production hasn’t been there because we haven’t given him the opportunities to have the production. Certainly he’s got to be a big part of what we do because he’s a premier player and one of the best slots in the league.”
Boyd has averaged roughly seven targets per game throughout his career before dipping below five this year.
Against the Ravens, it seemed the injury to Higgins actually worked against Boyd, as the team then put Ja’Marr Chase in the slot often in an effort to create mismatches. It sounds fine on paper, but it’s taking one of the best slot wideouts in the game out of position or off the field and ultimately making him ineffective.
The coaching staff’s goal, then, is finding a balance. Boyd has been more productive with lesser and even backup quarterbacks. If nothing else, it’s a good problem for the Bengals to have — provided they actually figure it out.
