Boykins is a panther....

yeah, Boykin played the slot and Gay moved outside.
The key is that the Steelers felt Boykin could only play the slot. That's why he didn't replace Blake regardless of how bad Blake was.

 

It's hard to 'coach em up' when they're riding the bench especially when there is most definitely less talent on the field.

 

Wow, Boykin getting into it with the guys from Steelers Depot. If he got better offers, he should have taken the money!

 

Maybe he wanted to go to a playoff team, I would choose a playoff team also for less money over a team like Cleveland.

 

I would choose a sharp stick in the eye over a team like Cleveland.......

 

Many Steelers fans overvaluing Boykin, believing that crap where AB supposedly said Boykin was the best CB on the Steelers . Also just because Pro Football Focus had Boykin rated highly as a slot CB with the Eagles, which hyped him up even more.

 

It's reminiscent of the Tomlin/Lewis situation. Tomlin has made a habit of playing guys he likes no matter how poorly they play, and burying players he doesn't like no matter how well they play.

 

I saw that on the Depot and there were a lot of commenters on there saying that Boykin acted like a punk and stuff like that but then DWill actually defended him. I actually appreciate what Boykin said even though he did spell a word very wrong. LOL! I just want to see him play next year and honestly hope he balls out. I heard he had an offer of $100 million to play for the Titans but turned in down when he realized Blake was there. Just kidding. I could honestly see him doing good in Carolina and looking like a stud. Mitchell looked pretty good for them and he has certainly not been a pro bowler for us. Their d might make Boykin look better as well.

 

That's what I was thinking too. He said he just wanted to be in a place where he could "play fairly" or whatever. Do you think Tomlin is stubborn to a fault? I personally think he has been at times. Exhibit A would be a few years ago when Lefty got hurt early in the Rats game and Tomlin refused to put Batch in. I still firmly believe if he would have we would have won that game. My reason for believing that is because the last time Batch played them he actually did beat them. I will give Tomlin credit for having the team ready to play in that game when Batch went in and won in Baltimore though. I also think he was stubborn to a fault in keeping Blake on the field as much as he did this year. I think the Rooney's would even agree since they've publicly said our secondary needs to be fixed. I'm not a "Fire Tomlin" guy but I'd be lying if I said that he doesn't really irritate me sometimes. I think we all would really. I suppose that's just the nature of fandom.

 

Oh I get it.

The issue is that if that wasn't why you traded and brought the guy in...you did something very wrong in your teams roster. Blake is better than he showed last season, but he's no HOF.


The fact that you put a one armed, limping guy on the field to cover the outside and only "presumingly" having slot guys that you have to shuffle is a major failure on a team that could have gone to the SB. I get that they don't really want Gay on the outside as that's where he gets exposed as well.

They need to buckle down and get some traditional corners in this system that can play the outside and stop bringing in undersized "Tacklers" that are best suited for the "slot", but get abused because 6'7" TE's are manhandling them.

 

Yeah, you can even point to letting Ben play when he was clearly limping on the field and was doing absolutely nothing good. I think it's a problem with coaches in general. Look at the RGIII situation. A blind guy could have told you RGIII shouldn't have been on that field in the playoff game.

 

^ I think the other thing about RGIII is the role "pedigree" and "upside" play in the NFL.

If the roles were reversed and Cousins had been drafted in the 1st and RGIII in the 4th then RGIII would be either out of the league or viewed as a career backup. No way would RGIII be talked about as a potential replacement for Romo or potential franchise QB.

That doesn't really pertain to Boykin or Gay or Blake as they all have low "pedigree" but the perception that Boykin is a slot corner only is firmly established. That is who he is now haha.

You can see how people think like this in the Boykin threads "If Boykin wasn't played he must be s headcase or have done something wrong."

How a team treats a player affects how he is perceived thereafter.

It's why Brady went in the 6th round. His Michigan coach started Henson over him because he didn't want to lose Henson and his "pedigree" to another school by not playing him (2 sport blue chip prospect).

Brady appeared to be garbage. Are you really going to draft a QB who couldn't start in college? Then Brady was horribly unathletic at the combine.

It's amazing Brady ever started at all or was even drafted. Terrible "pedigree."

 

I'm going to guess that the Steelers much like the Eagles tried Boykin on the outside and practice And didn't like what they saw.

 

i thought Tom Brady sucked in college. when he did finally start, he looked afraid and uncertain in the pocket, and did not look to possess any leadership qualities. kudos to Tom-bouncing back from playing at a big school and sucking so bad. it must have been tough. He learned from the experience and bounced back. I'm sure knowing your coach is smart and exploring the boundaries of fair play and cheating is a confidence booster.

 

That wasn't the deal with Lewis, he was dealing with some nagging injuries early in his career. LeBeau played the veterans ahead of Lewis also.

 

Yeah and also at that time we had some really good guys on defense as a whole and so it made it harder for the younger guys to get out there as quickly as they do now.

 

I still think that Boykin made Coach Tomlin mad . I think he came in and probably practiced well and started talking trash and then Coach Tomlin probably instructed the Defense to run the most complicated call we had against the most complicated route tree to shut him down ..

When AB said Boykin was the best CB on the Team what reason would he have to say that if it wasn't true ? Now we will waych as he goes to Carolina and looks like a stud...

 

Yeah I'm sure that's exactly how it went down.

 

I fully expect him to play better than Blake this year BUT he will be in a defense that has more playmakers and therefore will force opposing qb's to throw in his direction by virtue of the fact that they will be trying to avoid the bigger stars on that d. Do you expect Boykin to play better than Gay this year? I say Gay has a much worse season upcoming since Blake is gone. I personally think he benefited from the fact that Blake was trash. He won't have Blake to draw so much attention next year. Gay is still a MILLION times better than Blake though.

 

They picked him up to not play him because they would lose a draft pick if he played too many snaps

 

Watch him become an all-pro

 

He never played much when he was with Philly. Steelers picked him up and same thing. He is a bit of an enigma because I believe he has the talent but maybe not the locker room personna or attitude? dunno

 

I agree something isn't right here? AB has nothing to gain. Oh well to each his own Go Steelers.

 

I am not sure what happened or what was said and I understand he is now gone but I found this article and read what he says about Steeler tradition and guys on the team coming up to him, it is about the middle of the article. Don't sound like a guy that wanted to leave and sounded like a guy who wanted to be here, right from the begining:

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/brandon-boykin-eagles-steelers/

 

I am not sure about that also see he returned kicks which was something we needed last year and was avoided:

2014

The Eagles saw greatly increased production from Boykin in his second NFL season. His tackles increased from 31 to 47, his forced fumbles went from one to two and interceptions jumped from zero to six. Boykin also made a big contribution in 2013 came as a kick returner, recording 1037 for the season. The addition of Sproles could eat into those numbers in 2014 if the team decides to integrate him in the return game.

 

Since Boykin plays for Carolina, should this post now be in "General NFL Talk" rather than "Steelers"?

P.s. I saw there is now a sarcasm font. It's a reverse italic.

 

Statistically, even if we were drafting high in the first round, it is doubtful we could get a rookie who would be capable of starting game 1 without screwing up. Screw ups at safety cost games and put you out of the playoffs. I'm not interested in sacrificing a season of Ben to let rookies learn. Fortunately, the Steelers don't do this.

Right now, we need someone who won't cost us games until a young guy can learn. I do agree the young guys should be able to get in sooner, but if they aren't ready.....

2 places you don't want a rookie who isn't ready are safety and left tackle. It's not the place to learn during games. That's what practice is for. CB is even iffy. You better have safety help on top and this greatly limits your defensive options.

 

I agree and that was why I felt Weddle was a fit here but he isn't so maybe we can get a Nelson and the young guys can learn and ease in??????