Marvin Lewis: Tyler Boyd 'exceeded my expectations'

[*SHRacerX*]

(08-12-2016, 04:21 PM)Bengal Dude Wrote: I'm cautiously optimistic. A lot of times rookies look really good in camp, but then don't do much when thrown into live game action. I'm really hoping he turns out to be the real deal for us and becomes a staple of this offense for years to come.

That is always a legitimate concern for a rookie, especially a WR, but I think when you look at his experience at pitt and his production despite (really) bad QB play that it looks very promising.

Seeing him live in limited action, he reminds me a great deal of TJ Houshmanzadeh.  He has the smooth speed, and can change directions without gearing down.  Long arms, great hands...he is going to be a huge weapon in the slot.  

As Nate mentioned, though, it is the "X" receiver (Marvin Jones) that we don't know if we replaced.  I like what I see out of Core a great deal.  Honestly, if Lafell doesn't show great vertical speed, they may be rotating in Core more than the original plan.  Core reminds me of Chris Henry with his length and vertical speed.  He looks like he has even slimmed down from his original weight on draft day.  Not that he was ever heavy, but he is very lean now.  If he can take the top of the defense, and allow AJ, Boyd, and our corps of TEs/HBs to work underneath....well, the best the offense has ever looked (I would say under Marv, not EVER) IMHO was the 2005 team when they had Chad, TJ, and Henry.  

I'm glad Boyd is getting some snaps at "X", but I hope Lafell is out there next week and Boyd starts getting experience in the slot with Dalton.