A closer look at Miles Boykin

[edromeo]

JZC, I heard you on the Filmstudy podcast talking about this. Great stuff!!!

+1

[edromeo]

Thanks! It was super fun to do.

Ken is great. I felt stiff and awkward to start. Maybe first five mins? But Ken made it very conversational and kind of helped me along. After a bit I was able to relax into it and go along. His "professionalism" or whatever really made it go.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Hell, just being able to talk football with Ken is a treat by itself. I learned more than I "gave". For example, his remarks about the two methods an offensive squad can use to tire out a defense, were gold.

You were good bro. That style of conversation takes some getting used. It’s having a conversation with another person but at the same time the conversation is for other people to listen to.

I have a hard time getting all my points out in bite size morsels without losing something.

Btw-I had Boykin’s high side projection @ 96 targets

And yes, Ken is the man

[BearArms]

Thanks! It was super fun to do.

Ken is great. I felt stiff and awkward to start. Maybe first five mins? But Ken made it very conversational and kind of helped me along. After a bit I was able to relax into it and go along. His "professionalism" or whatever really made it go.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Hell, just being able to talk football with Ken is a treat by itself. I learned more than I "gave". For example, his remarks about the two methods an offensive squad can use to tire out a defense, were gold.

Gonna go listen. I like the effort and detail you put in these breakdowns.

One point. Do you see a difference between Miles breaking left(usually to the sideline) vs. right? He had one rea!ly good crossing route planting his left foot well for a crisp sharp break(you noted it was his best catch 2nd half of season). Other than that he seems to have soft rounded cuts going right from left.

[JimZipCode]

One point. Do you see a difference between Miles breaking left(usually to the sideline) vs. right? ... he seems to have soft rounded cuts going right from left.

Never even considered it! Will look again with that in mind.

[QtR Nevermore]

Thanks! It was super fun to do.

Ken is great. I felt stiff and awkward to start. Maybe first five mins? But Ken made it very conversational and kind of helped me along. After a bit I was able to relax into it and go along. His "professionalism" or whatever really made it go.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Hell, just being able to talk football with Ken is a treat by itself. I learned more than I "gave". For example, his remarks about the two methods an offensive squad can use to tire out a defense, were gold.

You were good Jim. So was Ken, as usual. I enjoyed it.

I'm still not quite sold on your optimism for Boykin. Yes, I can see the potential and that he has strengths but I've not seen anything to indicate which way it's going to go. Will he show enough development or will the rookies and Snead eat more of his snaps and leave him as a run blocking specialist primarily? I don't know enough to guess.

[BcRaven]

JZC, I heard you on the Filmstudy podcast talking about this. Great stuff!!!

+1

You were good Jim. So was Ken, as usual. I enjoyed it.

+2, that's our Jimmy

I am still quite optimistic about Boykin's future... Bc

[JimZipCode]

Yes, I can see the potential and that he has strengths but I've not seen anything to indicate which way it's going to go. Will he show enough development or will the rookies and Snead eat more of his snaps and leave him as a run blocking specialist primarily?

I'd be happier if we'd had an offseason: OTAs & stuff for Boykin to get coaching and build rapport with Lamar. I guess that cuts both ways. The rookies who might eat into his snaps haven't gotten those opportunities either.

Honestly one of the most encouraging indicators is that the Ravens didn't bother to acquire anyone at the same position. Boykin's only competition at "X" receiver is Jaleel Scott and Antoine Wesley; decent prospects, but clearly it's Boykin's job to lose.

I'm still not quite sold on your optimism for Boykin.

BTW, some of that goes back to Waldman's pre-draft scouting report on him. I was already excited about Boykin when he was on the board before we traded up.

[edromeo]

You were good Jim. So was Ken, as usual. I enjoyed it.

I'm still not quite sold on your optimism for Boykin. Yes, I can see the potential and that he has strengths but I've not seen anything to indicate which way it's going to go. Will he show enough development or will the rookies and Snead eat more of his snaps and leave him as a run blocking specialist primarily? I don't know enough to guess.

My optimism about Miles:

Greg Roman:

"Miles Boykin, [we're] really going to load his plate a lot more this year and really ask a lot of him this year," Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman said. "We really feel like he's going to take a giant step."

Harbaugh:

"Those corners are going to be one-on-one and those safeties are going to be one-on-one against receivers, especially on some downfield throws, and we got to make them pay for it,” Harbaugh said. “We absolutely have to make them pay. The ability to make them pay for tilting their defense toward stopping our run game with a really, really efficient passing game. I do believe that's the next step of this offense. I really do believe Lamar is going to take the next step."

Miles was on the field quite a bit last year.
Miles was open quite a bit last year without being targeted....some of those non-targets were open, potential big plays downfield.

Some of those non-targets were more or less open/given by the defense scheme.
The Ravens face a lot of Cover 3 which more or less concedes intermediate yards outside the numbers near the sideline ~7 yards. (outs, curls and stop routes etc maybe even slants).
Most of the times Cover 3 corners concede those yards at the snap by playing ~9 yards off the line of scrimmage.

Against man coverages Cover 1/Cover 2 (man) the defenses are likely going to focus on Andrews and Hollywood. That means Miles is going to be the beneficiary of a lot of one-on-one match-ups.

Even if Miles doesn't improve (and to be clear I expect him to improve) but even if he doesn't IF the only circumstances that change are an increased emphasis from the coaches then I expect Miles to put up much better numbers.

[QtR Nevermore]

My optimism about Miles:

Greg Roman:



Harbaugh:



Miles was on the field quite a bit last year.
Miles was open quite a bit last year without being targeted....some of those non-targets were open, potential big plays downfield.

Some of those non-targets were more or less open/given by the defense scheme.
The Ravens face a lot of Cover 3 which more or less concedes intermediate yards outside the numbers near the sideline ~7 yards. (outs, curls and stop routes etc maybe even slants).
Most of the times Cover 3 corners concede those yards at the snap by playing ~9 yards off the line of scrimmage.

Against man coverages Cover 1/Cover 2 (man) the defenses are likely going to focus on Andrews and Hollywood. That means Miles is going to be the beneficiary of a lot of one-on-one match-ups.

Even if Miles doesn't improve (and to be clear I expect him to improve) but even if he doesn't IF the only circumstances that change are an increased emphasis from the coaches then I expect Miles to put up much better numbers.

That makes sense but what I'm not sure about is whether Boykin is going to be the one targeted on those routes. I didn't see enough to be sure he'll outcompete Duvernay etc to get those snaps. (Apart from early on when no preseason gives him a massive advantage.)

I get that he's the big X receiver but a lot of those concepts rely on speed more than size, which Duvernay also has.

I'm not down on Boykin, just waiting at the moment, hoping at least one more receiver emerges.

[JimZipCode]

EdRomeo, I heard you on the Filmstudy podcast talking about target share. Great stuff!!! .

[WrongBaldy]

I like the hype here

[edromeo]

That makes sense but what I'm not sure about is whether Boykin is going to be the one targeted on those routes. I didn't see enough to be sure he'll outcompete Duvernay etc to get those snaps. (Apart from early on when no preseason gives him a massive advantage.)

I think he'll have the leg up on DuVernay because:
-DuVernay is a rookie
-Roman comments that specifically mention Boykin's playing a bigger role
-Boykin has shown on film that he can win on the routes I'm talking about

I'm a big fan of DuVernay, I could see him nibbling at some clear-out deep routes and maybe (hopefully) into Snead slot reps. DuVernay can also be use on the jet-motion/jet-sweep stuff.