Pierre Camus analyzes rookie wide receiver (WR) Tyler Boyd as a fantasy football sleeper for the 2016 NFL season. Target Boyd in your drafts this year!

Every year, fantasy football analysts spend countless hours evaluating the talent level of players, but in the end, many times opportunity is the most important factor in scoring fantasy points. Rookie Wide Receiver Tyler Boyd has a great opportunity, stepping into an ideal situation with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2016. The 2nd round pick from Pittsburgh has the opportunity to produce right away in Cincinnati and he will be expected to do so by his team as well as fantasy football players. The departures of Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu in free agency left the Bengals without 98 receptions and 1,210 receiving yards from last year's squad. On draft day, Cincinnati had a clear need at receiver and addressed it quickly by selecting Boyd at pick 55 overall. Boyd doesn't possess great size at 6'1", 195 lb and he doesn't have blazing speed with a 40 time of 4.58 at the NFL Combine. However, Boyd was selected as the 7th wide receiver off the board for a reason. In his three college seasons, Boyd showcased exceptional hands, consistent production and ability to manufacture big plays in a mediocre offense where he was the focal point of the offense.

At the University of Pittsburgh, Boyd began his career by breaking Larry Fitzgerald's freshman records for receptions (85) and receiving yards (1,174). He finished his college career with 254 receptions, 3,361 yards and 21 touchdowns. He did experience a noticeable drop-off in production in his final season, but that can be attributed to several factors out of his control. Pittsburgh's leading rusher, James Conner, missed the entire 2015 season with an MCL injury. As one of the nation's best running backs, this changed the entire dynamic of the Pittsburgh offense. Boyd also was forced to play with three different quarterbacks during his junior seson. Despite being the only real threat for defenses to have to plan to stop, Boyd still hauled in 91 catches for 926 yards. Boyd showed flexibility by lining up in the backfield regularly and making plays on end-arounds, racking up 349 rushing yards on 40 carries in his final college season.

In terms of overall measurables, Boyd compares most closely to receivers such as Robert Woods and Willie Snead. While both of those players are lower-end contributors for fantasy leagues, Boyd is stepping into a much more favorable situation. Playerprofiler.com lists Boyd's best comparable as Green Bay Wide Receiver James Jones. While Jones will never be considered an elite receiver, he actually finished the year as a top 25 fantasy receiver in 2015 because of the situation that he was placed in. The ceiling for Tyler Boyd may not be as high as some of his fellow rookie receivers, but he may contribute better numbers in 2016 than some of the wide-outs taken ahead of him in the draft.

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Boyd will likely be the starter opposite top receiver A.J. Green in a Bengals offense that ranked second in passer rating and fourth in yards per attempt during the 2015 season. In 2016, Boyd will have the chance to produce for the Bengals offense immediately. The #2 receiver in Cincinnati's offense has reached at least 700 receiving yards and four touchdowns in each of the past 3 seasons. The only competition Boyd faces right now are a couple of Patriots castoffs named Brandon: Brandon Tate and Brandon Lafell. Both are notorious for having a case of butterfingers and pose very little threat to take the starting job if Tyler Boyd performs up to expectations during training camp and the preseason. Another reason to target Boyd at his ADP(Undrafted on Fantasy Football Calculator and WR62/156 overall in MFL10s), the presumed #2 target in the Bengals offense, Tyler Eifert, is still recovering from ankle surgery and may not be 100% to start the season. All told, the circumstances point to a chance for Tyler Boyd to make an impact in his rookie campaign. Standard league owners can target Boyd as a WR4, but he may have even higher value in MFL10 leagues given his expected amount of immediate playing time.

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