1) Introduction: There were a few people — not many, but a few — who were holding out hope that Josh Boyd would take a Mike Daniels type of leap in his second season. I did not set the bar that high for Boyd, but he did get better. A little bit better, anyway.
2) Profile:
Josh Boyd
- Age: 25
- Born: 8/3/1989 in Philadelphia, MS
- Height: 6’3″
- Weight: 310
- College: Mississippi St.
- Rookie Year: 2013
- NFL Experience: 2 years
3) Expectations coming into the season: Improve. As I mentioned above, Boyd did get better, but not by a whole lot. He went from below average to about average. From replaceable, to maybe he’s worth keeping around. That’s improvement…I guess.
4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: Boyd showed up in the Buccaneers backfield several times in week 16. He also had a couple of moments in the wild-card win over Dallas, forcing DeMarco Murray to change directions in the backfield. When Datone Jones went down with an injury in October, Boyd held his own as Jones’ replacement. I can’t think of any specific lowlights, but overall, it has to be a lowlight that Boyd never really made much of a leap in 2014. Sure, expectations weren’t that high, but significant improvement from Boyd would have helped the Packers figure out their run defense much sooner than they did.
5) Player’s contribution to the overall team success: He stayed healthy and never screwed up too badly. Sure, every team needs a Josh Boyd up front, but “he stayed healthy and never screwed up too badly” isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement. He’s quicker than you’d envision a 305-pounder to be, but I’m not sure he’s got enough to be a player the Packers can count on long term.
6) Player’s contributions in the playoffs: Boyd performed in the playoffs about like he did in the regular season: He was just kind of there.
7) Intangibles: Letroy Guion used his above average quickness to carve out a nice spot for himself on this year’s defensive line. With both Guion and B.J. Raji hitting free agency, perhaps I’m writing off what Boyd and his quick twitch could bring to this team next season. He’s still young. Let’s see what he shows in year three.
Season Report Card (Player Grades):
(C) Level of expectations met during the season
(D+) Contributions to team’s overall success.
(C) Contributions to team during the playoffs
Overall Grade: C-
Adam Czech is a a freelance sports reporter living in the Twin Cities and a proud supporter of American corn farmers. When not working, Adam is usually writing about, thinking about or worrying about the Packers. Follow Adam on Twitter. Twitter .
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Pretty spot on. No rushee, decent run stopping player. Played more snaps than Datone. A little below average NFL player. That said, barring some significant personnel moves off-season, I view him as a lock for next year’s team. As you wrote, he might improve. It is not that unusual for DL to take 2 full seasons to make the jump. Good value player right now.
I would describe his performance in 2014 as underwhelming. Maybe in 2015 he can make it to whelming. Thanks, Since ’61
Just to expand on a point, Boyd is a good value player. In a league with a hard Cap, having guys like Bakh play a premium position pretty well on a rookie contract, indeed a 4th rd. deal, really helps the cap situation. A good left tackle after he hits free agency will take up $7 to $10 million per year in cap. Bakh’s cap # for this upcoming season is $698K. Linsley is another outstanding example of getting good play from guys still on their rookie deals. Boyd is just a so-so player, but he too is helping us with the cap, allowing us to divert cap space to other areas of the team. This is one of TT’s strengths.