The Cincinnati Bengals have plenty of underrated players on the roster.
Cincinnati tends to fly under the proverbial radar as it is and especially with the team struggling so much over the past few years.
But one of the biggest underrated names?
Tyler Boyd, as argued by NFL.com’s Cynthia Frelund:
“There weren’t many bright spots in the Bengals’ offense last season (Joe Mixon was one of the few), but it seems Boyd isn’t getting the respect he deserves. He ranked sixth in the NFL last season with 661 receiving yards from the slot, per Next Gen Stats. When you add in the context of Cincinnati’s extremely subpar offensive line and A.J. Green’s season-long absence, Boyd’s impact starts to come into focus. For rookie QB Joe Burrow, Boyd’s on- and off-ball impact will be a key in the passing game.”
Frelund used a model that calculated player value and looped in factors like production on each snap, draft positioning, salary and more.
Boiling it down in simpler terms, Boyd is great. With A.J. Green mostly sidelined in each of the last two seasons, he functioned as the No. 1 wideout while going for 1,000-plus yards both years and scoring 12 touchdowns with 50-plus first downs both times.
Now add in the surrounding circumstances like iffy quarterback play behind a shaky line and a lack of serious threats at the other skill positions — one begins to see why Boyd was so undervalued on a national scale.
Not to take shine from Boyd, but Joe Mixon, Trey Hopkins and a handful of others could also fall under this same classification. As things improve though, Boyd stands at the forefront of Bengals who could be ready for a massive breakout, shedding this label for good.
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