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On Tuesday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Steelers were awarded receiver Miles Boykin off of waivers from the Baltimore Ravens. The claim was a no-brainer for the Steelers as they have a huge hole at receiver after losing JuJu Smith-Schuster, Ray-Ray McCloud, and James Washington in free agency.
Boykin was a third round pick by Baltimore back in 2019, and the Steelers showed some interested in Boykin at the time. Boykin took an official top 30 visit with the Steelers in Pittsburgh and met with head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Kevin Colbert. They ultimately decided to draft Diontae Johnson at pick #66 before Boykin would be selected at #93.
Miles Boykin, and Chase Claypool at Notre Dame / Photo (WNDU)
It’s happened time after time where Tomlin and Colbert meet with a prospect ahead of the NFL Draft, don’t ultimately select him, and then several years later, the prospect ends up in Pittsburgh. It’s certainly why they sometimes meet with prospects they don’t think they will have a chance to draft, because they know somewhere down the line an opportunity might show up.
Now the addition of Boykin doesn’t really mean anything is going to change for the Steelers heading into the draft. Boykin’s best production came during college and stopped right there. Some will argue that with Lamar Jackson as his quarterback in Baltimore, he hasn’t exactly had a fair shot, but with his size and speed, he should’ve been a target that Jackson loved. Think about this; Boykin has STARTED 24 games in his NFL career, but only has 33 receptions. But regardless, it isn’t a for sure bet that Boykin even makes the Steelers roster coming out of training camp. They won’t have anything tying them to him.
Boykin has lots of upside, and it starts with his size and his ability to go up and make a play on the football. Boykin ran a 4.42 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in 2019, and has a 43.5 inch vertical to go with an 81 inch wing span. Boykin was teammates with Chase Claypool at Notre Dame for three seasons before Boykin left for the NFL Draft in 2019. It took Boykin awhile to develop as a receiver, but when he did in 2018, he surpassed Claypool in receptions for the first time. He finished the 2018 campaign with 59 receptions to Claypool’s 50. He also out gained Claypool 872 to 639 in yardage.
A first round pick at wide receiver is still in play. But with a deep draft class, it wasn’t likely they were even considering one to begin with. Players like Christian Watson, or Skyy Moore will be available in the second round.
Active receivers on Pittsburgh’s roster:
A few veterans that have bounced around in Steven Sims and Anthony Miller, a kick returner with Gunner Olszewski, and a bunch of guys with zero career starts outside of Claypool and Johnson. That’s a far cry from the receiver rooms we’ve seen the Steelers boast over the last 20 years.
Now the Steelers are still going to need to add a veteran receiver. A proven receiver. Is it going to be someone like Odell Beckham Jr. or Jarvis Landry? No. Don’t count on it. But Emmanuel Sanders (who may have burned his bridge when he left town), Cole Beasley, TY Hilton, and Will Fuller are still available. With all of those guys comes some baggage, or in Sanders case, he’s old. But they will all likely still be available once the draft is complete and that will likely be when the market for those guys heats up.
Pittsburgh is still going to take a receiver on the first two days. I’d be shocked if they didn’t. I’ll also be very surprised if they don’t add some type of veteran like the ones mentioned above. It doesn’t seem like a big deal yet, but it’s noteworthy that Diontae Johnson wants a new contract. Will he get it? I don’t know. Will he hold out? I don’t know. But what we do know is he wasn’t anywhere to be seen at voluntary off-season workouts that started this week. We know Mitch Trubisky, Najee Harris, Pat Freiermuth, and several other starters were.
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Boykin was a third round pick by Baltimore back in 2019, and the Steelers showed some interested in Boykin at the time. Boykin took an official top 30 visit with the Steelers in Pittsburgh and met with head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Kevin Colbert. They ultimately decided to draft Diontae Johnson at pick #66 before Boykin would be selected at #93.
Miles Boykin, and Chase Claypool at Notre Dame / Photo (WNDU)
It’s happened time after time where Tomlin and Colbert meet with a prospect ahead of the NFL Draft, don’t ultimately select him, and then several years later, the prospect ends up in Pittsburgh. It’s certainly why they sometimes meet with prospects they don’t think they will have a chance to draft, because they know somewhere down the line an opportunity might show up.
Now the addition of Boykin doesn’t really mean anything is going to change for the Steelers heading into the draft. Boykin’s best production came during college and stopped right there. Some will argue that with Lamar Jackson as his quarterback in Baltimore, he hasn’t exactly had a fair shot, but with his size and speed, he should’ve been a target that Jackson loved. Think about this; Boykin has STARTED 24 games in his NFL career, but only has 33 receptions. But regardless, it isn’t a for sure bet that Boykin even makes the Steelers roster coming out of training camp. They won’t have anything tying them to him.
Boykin has lots of upside, and it starts with his size and his ability to go up and make a play on the football. Boykin ran a 4.42 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in 2019, and has a 43.5 inch vertical to go with an 81 inch wing span. Boykin was teammates with Chase Claypool at Notre Dame for three seasons before Boykin left for the NFL Draft in 2019. It took Boykin awhile to develop as a receiver, but when he did in 2018, he surpassed Claypool in receptions for the first time. He finished the 2018 campaign with 59 receptions to Claypool’s 50. He also out gained Claypool 872 to 639 in yardage.
A first round pick at wide receiver is still in play. But with a deep draft class, it wasn’t likely they were even considering one to begin with. Players like Christian Watson, or Skyy Moore will be available in the second round.
Active receivers on Pittsburgh’s roster:
- Miles Boykin – 24 career starts
- Rico Bussey – 0 career starts
- Chase Claypool – 19 career starts
- Diontae Johnson – 39 career starts
- Anthony Miller – 18 career starts
- Gunner Olszewski – 2 career starts
- Steven Sims – 4 career starts
- Tyler Vaughns – 0 career starts
- Cody White – 0 career starts
A few veterans that have bounced around in Steven Sims and Anthony Miller, a kick returner with Gunner Olszewski, and a bunch of guys with zero career starts outside of Claypool and Johnson. That’s a far cry from the receiver rooms we’ve seen the Steelers boast over the last 20 years.
Click Photo For New Steelers WR Miles Boykin’s Highlights:
Now the Steelers are still going to need to add a veteran receiver. A proven receiver. Is it going to be someone like Odell Beckham Jr. or Jarvis Landry? No. Don’t count on it. But Emmanuel Sanders (who may have burned his bridge when he left town), Cole Beasley, TY Hilton, and Will Fuller are still available. With all of those guys comes some baggage, or in Sanders case, he’s old. But they will all likely still be available once the draft is complete and that will likely be when the market for those guys heats up.
Conclusion
Pittsburgh is still going to take a receiver on the first two days. I’d be shocked if they didn’t. I’ll also be very surprised if they don’t add some type of veteran like the ones mentioned above. It doesn’t seem like a big deal yet, but it’s noteworthy that Diontae Johnson wants a new contract. Will he get it? I don’t know. Will he hold out? I don’t know. But what we do know is he wasn’t anywhere to be seen at voluntary off-season workouts that started this week. We know Mitch Trubisky, Najee Harris, Pat Freiermuth, and several other starters were.
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