One Bengals Player Makes All-Underrated Team Ahead of 2021 Season

Expectations are high in Cincinnati, but one player is flying under the radar.

Author:
James Rapien
Publish date:
Sep 3, 2021 9:36 AM EDT

CINCINNATI — The Bengals are hoping to have one of the top offenses in the NFL this season. They drafted Ja'Marr Chase and added him to a group that includes Joe Burrow, Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins and Joe Mixon.

Burrow has plenty of weapons to work with, but Boyd might be the most reliable of the group. The veteran receiver has great chemistry with his quarterback and established himself as one of the best slot options in the league.

Boyd made Pro Football Focus' All-Underrated Team.

^{"Slot receiver is one of the most valuable positions on the field, and Boyd has grown into one of the NFL's top players at that position over the past three years," PFF Analyst Anthony Treash wrote. "Since 2018, he has run the third-most routes from the slot and is one of the league’s 10 highest-graded players on those reps. Boyd’s 51 explosive receptions of 15-plus yards from the slot lead the league in that span."}

Boyd has 245 receptions for 2,915 and 16 touchdowns over his last three seasons. Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan believes he's arguably the best slot receiver in the NFL.

^{"His production speaks for itself," Callahan said. "He’s got great size, great feel and great intuition for an inside receiver. He’s got good burst and he’s got a good catch radius because a lot of those guys around the league are smaller body types. He’s kinda bigger and longer and so he’s got a real big radius to catch the ball. He’s got a good rapport with Joe (Burrow) and he’s got great body language when he runs routes. Joe’s got a great feel for when he’s gonna break, how he’s gonna break and that’s come from all the reps they’ve put in together. Tyler I think is really almost in that conversation as the best inside receiver in football. And I think it’s only going to continue to grow. Ideally having Tee and Ja’Marr outside puts a lot less pressure on Tyler. He should rarely be doubled inside and if he is, we got other guys that are singled up. That’s kinda the idea when you got three good receivers like that.”}

Baker Mayfield, Andrew Whitworth and free agent center Austin Reiter made the list. The Bengals brought Reiter in for a visit in July, but didn't sign him.

Check out the PFF's entire All-Underrated Team here.

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