Boykin definitely played a lot. He led WRs in snaps (
40, barely ahead of Snead's
38). It's clear Roman is treating both him and Brown as the top WRs (both played on every drive except RG3's).
The skinny post catch came at
(Q4, 08:30). Am I allowed to post GIFs? I have one of that play (and Boykin's other catches).
I have the same reservations regarding conclusions prior to seeing the all-22. That said, I think what I saw on was Boykin being slightly more involved than in the past. His
4 targets:
- (Q2, 07:24) Boykin is backside of 3x1, runs a drag. Probably option 3, but Lamar hits him for (11+14).
- (Q2, 00:12) Boykin is backside of 3x1, runs an out. Lamar never looks anywhere else. Route isn't great, throw isn't great, incomplete.
- (Q4, 14:20) Boykin goes in jet motion (by my charting, Boykin was in motion on 3 dropbacks last season total). He stays underneath in the flat as a safety valve, and Lamar checks down to him for (-3+5).
- (Q4, 08:30) Boykin is backside of 3x2, runs a slant. Hard to tell from broadcast, but I don't see Lamar's head move, so he might be the top option. Lamar hits Boykin for (8+2), but Boykin unnecessarily goes down to make the catch, giving up significant YAC (I don't think he's getting the first down on 3rd & 27, but it continues a trend of Boykin going to the ground to secure the catch and giving up yards).
There are other signs for me as well. The Ravens called run plays (scrambles excluded) on
234 (
51%) of Boykin's
460 "real" snaps in 2019 ("real" excludes clock plays, plays nullified by penalty, and fumbled snaps/meshes). On Sunday, the Ravens called runs on only
14 (
35%) of Boykin's
40 "real" snaps. As a team, the Ravens called slightly fewer runs (
27/57,
47%) on Sunday than they typically did in 2019 (
51%), but imo, it's clear that they want Boykin on the field when passing in 2020, something that was not true in 2019.
I still expect it to be tough for him to amass a high number of targets. This offense should run through Andrews and Brown first. If Boykin can build himself into a solid third option who gets open when those two are covered (as he did on the first target above), that would bode very well for the offense as a whole.