NFL Draft Prospects 2019: Wide Receiver - Miles Boykin, Notre Dame
Even though he missed three games as a senior, Boykin was named Illinois’ Player of the Year and came to the Fighting Irish as a four-star recruit.
After spending a year on the practice squad, he didn’t put up any big numbers in his first two years until the Citrus Bowl versus LSU, when he took home MVP honors with 102 yards including a 55-yard one-handed grab to seal the victory.
Boykin became the number one target in the passing game for the Irish in 2018, leading the team with 59 catches for 872 yards and eight touchdowns. Once Notre Dame made the switch to Ian Book at quarterback, they really started featuring Boykin and the offensive coordinator put the ball in his hands quickly on screen passes as well as downfield shots.
The body-beautiful 6’4”, 220-pound wideout picked up a combined 52 first downs and touchdowns as part of a rather run-centric ND offense and looks to be even more productive in the pros. To go with his tape, he had a tremendous combine performance with a 4.42 in the 40, a 43.5-inch vertical, an 11’8” broad jump, some of the best numbers in the change-of-direction drills and a pretty flawless field workout.
Boykin can roll his hips into breaks easily for a guy his size. He ran a bunch of comebacks and deep outs from a tighter split. The big body catches the ball outside his frame exceptionally well and has the strong arms to hold onto it despite defenders ripping at him. Boykin shows good adjustments to the ball on back-shoulder throws. Once he has the ball secured, his eyes immediately turn upfield and he is looking for how to maximize the yardage.
What I really like are his YAC – not yards after the catch, but after contact. Boykin is also a physical run-blocker who brings the necessary effort and keeps a tight grip on defenders. He bullies smaller cornerbacks and doesn’t mind throwing a shoulder at a linebacker on sweep or toss plays as a crack-blocker either. Boykin simply couldn’t break free from Vanderbilt’s JoeJuan Williams, who is a long press-corner and could match his physicality. He has some weird releases and doesn’t always stack his defender properly on downfield routes.
Boykin tries to beat press with brute strength over finesse and footwork, which doesn’t come with too much success. He is kind of a one-speed receiver, who doesn’t really pace his steps or shows sudden burst to detach vertically. After the catch, he isn’t the most elusive player and doesn’t really make people miss either.
Boykin’s all-around athleticism is off the charts. He has just one season plus a breakout game on tape that really show any of his skills however. I think he is definitely worth a day two selection because of his rare physical gifts and I see the effort to translate it to the football field. If he wants to make a living in the NFL he will need to learn how to release from press and bring a little more variability to his route-running.
Grade: Mid-third