Andy Dalton is out, Joe Burrow is in. Marvin Lewis is out, Zac Taylor
is in. AJ Green, Tee Higgins, and John Ross are on the outside, Tyler
Boyd is on the inside. The Bengals offense is setting up to be
favorable for the 25-year-old who is coming off back-to-back 1,000
yard seasons.
Zac Taylor joined the Rams’ coaching staff in 2017 as an assistant WR
coach. That same year, Cooper Kupp led all Rams’ receivers in both
receptions (62) and yards (869) while playing out of the slot. In
2018, Zac Taylor became the Rams’ QB coach. Jared Goff went from 3,804
passing yards in 2017 to a career high of 4,688 passing yards in 2018.
In 2019, Taylor became the Bengals head coach along with Brian
Callahan taking over as offensive coordinator. Together, they helped
Andy Dalton reach his highest passing yards per game average in his
nine-year career of 268.8 yards/game. With their pass-to-run ratio of
64-36 percent, Tyler Boyd also reached career highs in 2019 with 90
receptions and 1,046 yards under the new coaching staff.
Last season, Joe Burrow took the entire nation by storm. He threw for
5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns in 15 games for LSU. One of his favorite
targets for the record setting offense was Justin Jefferson. Jefferson
led all FBS in receptions with an astonishing 111 catches and added
1,540 yards and 18 touchdowns while primarily playing out of the slot.
As for Boyd himself, he finished tied for 11th in receptions last
season for WRs and tied for 6th in targets per game with 9.3 as well.
He did this on a depleted WR core in 2019 with AJ Green missing the
entire season and John Ross missing 8 games. The Bengals had a
difficult time getting the run game going as well. Joe Mixon only had
four 100 plus yard games, and his first one didn't come until week 9.
For the most part, the Bengals were one-dimensional last season, and
Boyd was the main target in the passing game. That makes it a lot
easier for opposing defenses to shift their focus on one player. That
will all change in 2020. With Green and Ross coming back healthy, and
the addition of Burrow and Higgins, the Bengals will be a more
well-rounded offense moving forward. John Ross will stretch the field
with his 4.22 speed while Green, Higgins, and Mixon will open the
field up by spreading out the defense. With all these exciting weapons
to occupy the defense, Boyd will reap the rewards by becoming Burrow's
favorite option - the slot.
When I add these factors together, the results show a young, pass
happy, and high-powered Bengals' offense that likes to throw the ball
to the slot. On the receiving end of this equation, is the 6-2, 200
pound, 25-year-old out of Pitt – Tyler Boyd