Cincinnati Bengals Need to Get Tyler Boyd More Involved on Offense

One of Cincinnati's highest paid players is seeing his lowest usage since his rookie season.

Author:
Elise Jesse
Publish date:
Oct 15, 2022 1:01 PM EDT

In this story:

It’s baffling how uninspiring and fruitful the Cincinnati Bengals' offense has been this season.

Ja’Marr Chase slayed defenses as a YAC (yards-after-catch) dragon in 2021. So far this year he’s been doubled nonstop and his production has slowed. His numbers are down (32 catches, 343 yards, two touchdowns) and the coaching staff has moved Chase around to try to get him more involved in what was a high powered offense competing in the Super Bowl just eight months ago.

Playing musical chairs has had a domino effect on other playmakers, including veteran Tyler Boyd. He has just 15 catches on just 23 targets through five games.

“When you're moving Jamar into the slot, those are generally TB's targets and that’s the trade-off,” Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said this week. “Sometimes, when you’re trying to get guys the ball and that’s just sometimes how it goes. And you know, when TB's numbers been called and we've got them on plays that he's been the primary, he's been really good.”

Boyd’s contract is loud, but his production has been quiet through five weeks of football. Cincinnati signed Boyd to a four-year $43 million deal in 2019. That makes him one of the five of highest paid players on the team behind Trey Hendrickson, D.J. Reader, Jessie Bates III, and Joe Mixon.

A high value player like Boyd should be featured more often in this offense. Now, the Bengals have a problem that every team would love to have—they’ve got playmakers all over the field but learning to manage the amount of talent and utilizing them correctly would go along way in busting the top off of this seemingly struggling offensive unit.

“It’s a good problem to have because we have three guys who are really good players and you add (Joe) Mixon in there and you add Hayden (Hurst) in there,” Callahan said. “There are a lot of touches to go around and we haven’t had enough plays to give those guys."

When you look at the AFC overall, the Bengals have run the most offensive plays in the conference at 349. Cincinnati is also averaging the least amount of yards per play at 4.8. Not only does this team need to create more plays to go around for the amount of talent in their receiving corp, they've got to start generating more offensive efficiency.

One would think that Boyd's usage would increase with Tee Higgins standing on the sideline in Baltimore due to an ankle injury. Instead, we watched the veteran catch three passes for 32 yards. To be fair, their week five game in Baltimore yielded the least amount of drives (9) and the least amount of offensive plays (59) of the season.

"When you’ve got a guy like Tee (Higgins) that goes out, it changes a little bit," said Callahan. "You try to manufacture touches for other guys. TB would have been one it would have been helpful to maybe move him around a little more.”

Boyd is only averaging 4.6 targets per game. One of the best slot receivers in the league is experiencing his lowest usage since he first came into the league, which includes his second year where he only played 10 games due to a right MCL sprain.

Incorporating Boyd into the game plan and creating opportunities for him to make big plays could only help this offense. Taking him out of the slot completely and rendering him ineffective did not help Cincinnati’s offensive efficiency against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 5.

There are a plethora of problems to fix, and the reality is that every problem will not be fixed in a week’s time, but when looking at the specific problem of managing Boyd’s opportunities, it should take priority mainly because he's one of the highest-paid players on the team and he can help them win.

With Higgins still nursing his ankle sprain, and a week of time to plan and prepare to include Boyd in the game plan, it would be an extreme disappointment if the staff didn’t wield that kind of weapon against the New Orleans Saints.

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