In 2021, the Cincinnati Bengals are going to do something that they haven’t done in 10 seasons: take the field without AJ Green on the roster. A direct result of this has been that the hype for wide receiver Tee Higgins has skyrocketed, but while all of the focus is on him, there is a lot of value to be had with Tyler Boyd.
In 2020, Boyd led the team in targets, receptions, and was second on the team in yards and receiving touchdowns. With Green leaving for Arizona, there will be around 100 targets that will be up for grabs for Bengals pass-catchers since he averaged 120 targets a season, bringing in 101 targets this past season. While Higgins and Boyd both are set up for seasons to come, Tyler Boyd is really the receiver that you want to go after.
According to Fantasy Data, Boyd finished the 2020 season as the WR35 with 153.14 total fantasy points and 10.2 fantasy points per game. In the games that Joe Burrow was the QB (Weeks 1-11), Boyd had 127.94 points averaging 12.79 points per game which had him as the overall WR17 in that span. The connection with Burrow was evident with Boyd as there were three games last season where Boyd had at least 11 targets and nine receptions. His best game came in Week 7 against the Cleveland Browns when he had 22.24 points on 11 receptions from 13 targets for 101 yards and a touchdown.
For receivers that played at least 272 snaps in 2020, Boyd took the fourth-most snaps out of the slot (433). He had 69 receptions on 93 targets for 739 yards and all four of his touchdowns. For all of you drop truthers out there, Boyd only had one drop out of the slot, the fewest for receivers with at least 412 snaps taken. Boyd, also, ranked third in the number of targets and receptions for any receiver that lined up in the slot.
Boyd had a career year in terms aDoT (average depth of target) with a distance of 9.1 yards compared to his aDoT from last season which was 8.8 yards as a slot wide receiver. Joe Burrow’s aDoT in the games he was able to play in his rookie season was 8.9 yards. In the 11 games that Burrow was the quarterback, Boyd’s aDoT was 8.73 yards.
Translation: Boyd was always in Joe Burrow’s throwing wheel house!
According to PFF, for receivers with at least 41 targets that came in short distances (zero to nine yards) Boyd ranked 14th in targets, 14th in receptions, and 11th in yards. He excelled, though, in turning those short completions into longer gains. Under the same metrics, Boyd ranked seventh in yards after the catch (YAC; 255 yards), fourth in yards after the catch per reception (YAC/REC; 5.2 yards), and he ranked second in yards per route run (Y/RR; 8.4 yards).
When looking at his quarterback’s effectiveness on the field, Burrow ranked tied for eighth in passer rating of quarterbacks with at least 154 passing attempts on short passes (between zero and nine yards). Burrow’s NFL passer rating on short passes was 104.7 (out of the best possible 158.3) which ranked him eighth out of 27 QBs that had 154 attempts. Unfortunately, when it came to intermediate passes (10-19 yards) and deep passes (20+ yards), Burrow was less effective. For intermediate passes, Burrow’s passer rating was 97.0 (19th out of 28 QBs with at least 74 intermediate attempts), and for deep passes his passer rating was 50.8 (19th out of 20 QBs with at least 45 deep attempts). Even though Burrow is known as a gifted passer, he is at his best when keeping it short which is right where Tyler Boyd should be going forward.
Is Tyler Boyd the deep threat guy with deep-play fantasy potential? No. But in this Bengals offense, he doesn’t need to be. In fact, with Burrow as his quarterback, he shouldn’t WANT to be a deep threat. Even with Tee Higgins expected to do big things, Boyd should do just as much from a fantasy production standpoint, and because he is an older veteran he is likely to be cheaper option for acqusition for your dynasty team.
Translation: Go get Tyler Boyd NOW!
For other articles on dynasty players to target check out our website: https://fantasyinframes.com/dynasty-players-to-targets-in-fantasy/.
To see who we believe are rising and falling in dynasty fantasy football check this out: https://fantasyinframes.com/risers-fallers-in-dynasty-fantasy-football/.
