Well, last night went about the way it was expected to for Tyler Boyd:

Tyler Boyd wasn’t selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, but he went to sleep Thursday comfortable and confident his NFL career will get started Friday.

Boyd was joined by family, friends and teammates in a crowded suite at the Omni William Penn, Downtown. Among those seated with him while he watched the draft was former Clairton coach Tom Nola, ex-Pitt teammates Terrish Webb and Titus Howard, and Pitt running back James Conner.

When Boyd’s name wasn’t called among the 31 picks in the first round, he took the disappointment with a quiet shrug.

“It doesn’t matter what team picks me or what round I go,” he said. “I just know I’m going to take full advantage of the opportunity. I just want the opportunity to see my name come across that screen.

“I’m just trying to stay as calm as possible. I have anxiety in me, believe it or not. If not today, I’m going to do the same thing (Friday).”

Boyd also was joined by ESPN cameras, who were hoping to catch his reaction when his name was called. ESPN requested he remain seated in front of a television after the 15th pick of the first round.

There were four wide receivers selected in the first round, led by Baylor’s Corey Coleman by the Cleveland Browns with the 15th pick. Notre Dame’s Will Fuller was selected 21st by the Houston Texans, TCU’s Josh Doctson went 22nd to the Washington Redskins, and Ole Miss’ Laquon Treadwell 23rd to the Minnesota Vikings.

Peak thinks NFL teams miss the mark with their evaluations of Boyd:

In Peak’s last podcast he anonymously referenced my thoughts that Pitt may be better off with Boyd’s departure being an opening for a more productive passing game because we’ll have more targets with different skill sets to use.  He said that opinion was “stupid” then modified it to “Well, it’s…silly”.

This is certainly a reasonable way for Peak to look at what I have been saying on here.  I’ll admit that part of my opinion that we may be better in the passing game is wishful thinking.  But I’ll relate a true story here.

After LeSean McCoy’s last game at Pitt, that horrible 3-0 loss to Oregon State in the 2008 Sun Bowl I was in a large group of Pitt fans watching the game in a sports bar.  Of course even though McCoy hadn’t yet declared for the draft I think we all knew he would do so, the topic of conversation (along with streams of tears) was that he would be impossible to replace.

McCoy was more of an offensive centerpiece for Pitt than even Boyd was last season when Boyd had to carry the load without James Conner in the backfield.  Conner was coming off a monster 2014 year and we all thought those two would complement each other and gives us many yards and many points.

But in 2008 McCoy had Stull as the QB with WR Derek Kinder (422 yards and 3 TDs) and WR Jon Baldwin as a true FR ( 404 yards and 3 TDs).  So it was really up to McCoy to carry the weight and he did to a tune of almost 1500 yards and 21 TDs.

Anyway – back at the sports bar I piped up and said ‘We aren’t going to miss a beat with McCoy leaving” and needless to say people started screaming at me and telling me how crazy I was.  But I stuck with that and wrote it on the message boards many times and the thing was I didn’t know anything at all about 4* Ray Graham or 3* Dion Lewis who were coming in as recruits.  Pitt fans hoped that Graham would be McCoy’s heir apparent but it was Lewis who chewed up the defenses with 1800 yards and 17 TDs.

So, I guess I’m saying the same thing now about Tyler Boyd leaving. WR is a skill position where young kids can waltz in and blow up the field as they can at RB also. I think we may have the ability to get that with 4* Ruben Flowers, a 6’4” 191 WR who runs a 4.6 40 yard dash.

We may also see some extant WRs on the roster really produce.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that rsJR Jester Weah has completely gotten over his case of the yips when it comes to catch a football – a critical skill for someone who’s sole reason to be out on the field is to do just that.  Weah has been timed at a 4.4 in his 40 yard dash which is exceptional.

Two other names have been talked about; one is  SO Tre Tipton who is another quick kid.  He played a few games before his knee injury derailed him last season but he should be 100% for ’16. The other is a player who I am getting more and more excited about seeing in the regular offense this season.

SO Quadree Henderson just might be that productive slot receiver that we all hoped Cameron Saddler would be back when he played.  He showed his true speed (4.4) with that great 99 yard KO return against Navy in the bowl game.  He’s short at 5’9” and 172 lbs but can fly at 4.43 timed in the 40.

What I am really looking to as far as ‘make-up for Boyd’ production is the tandem of rsSR Dontez Ford and rsJR Zach Challingsworth. Ford, as I have said and firmly believe, is our emerging star of the offense for 2016.  What grabs me is this crazy numbers; 26 catches for 505 yards at a 19.2 ypc clip. That is outstanding and better than any WR we have had going back to Greg Lee who finished with 19.4.

Guys – that is the 2^nd best yards per catch ever for Pitt for anyone with 25+ catches.

Challingsworth is a lot like Mike Shanahan in my mind.  This last season was the first where he got any real semblance of playing time and he did well with 12 catches for 171 yards and a 12.3 ypc average.  He’s more of a possession type but as we saw in a few highlights last year he can make the hard plays when needed.

You’ll notice that in my descriptions of the receivers above rests heavily on their 40 times. The reason I’m excited about having a bunch of speedsters in the pass catching corps is that I think Nate Peterman will have a very good year throwing the deep ball.

He was handcuffed by OC Jim “Slow it down!” Chaney’s abhorrence of anything but fail safe short to intermediate passes last season. However I believe our new OC Matt Canada when he says that the deep passing routes have always been a big part of his offensive philosophy.   Peterman has the arm to get the ball downfield – I know some will dispute that but during last fall’s camp he impressed all with his ability in that regard – enough to prompt an well know insider to say to me with excitement  “We have a deep game now!.  Too bad Chaney didn’t feel that way.

We’ll see two or three deep attempts each half this season and we’ll connect on a lot of them.  Then Peterman can zap the ball to Henderson on a crossing pattern or to Ford and Challingsworth on an out and get those 1^st downs needed to both score points and keep the opponent’s defense off the field.

The best part though is that we’ll have more depth. I suppose, but when throwing the ball 40% of the time to one player it’s hard to tell about any depth you may have. This year however no one receiver is going to draw passes like Boyd did and I think, especially when you throw in the TEs, we’ll see more multiple WR sets and give Peterman a lot more options than he had last season.

Hey, let’s not be ‘Stupid’ or ‘Well… silly’ about this.  We’ll certainly miss Tyler Boyd.  There is no doubt about how he produced or how well he played.  But at the same time this is what happens almost every year in college ball and, aside from graduating Aaron Donald, I can’t remember a player in recent Pitt history who wasn’t replaceable.

Shifting gears:

When discussing these two best receivers in Pitt’s history it is like speaking of an embarrassment of riches.  However, I do wish people would modify their comparisons of Boyd to Larry Fitzgerald, especially with the stats and records. Don’t forget Tyler Boyd played one full season more than Fitz played for us.   If you remember because Fitz went to a prep school for a year before being recruited he was able to bold out of Pitt in two years vice three.

Here is how their comparisons break down:

As much as we have all enjoyed watching Boyd and because he is the most present ‘star’ player we have had in the last few years we appreciate and talk about him like he’s the best we’ve had.  I don’t think he’s the “best’ though and believe the numbers bear that out.

But hey!  Being 2^nd best to a future NFL Hall of Fame receiver iain’t chopped liver.

So, we’ll keep tuned to hear Boyd’s name.  At this point I hope it’s high enough for a decent signing bonus that he can invest wisely and rely on to help out in the future in case of a career ending injury.

Referencing the podcast above – Peak also lists his “Five Best Pitt Players” since Larry Fitzgerald and his thinking, and discussing his reasoning, is well worth listening to.

Here is the info on tonight’s starting time, etc… for rounds 2 & 3 of the draft.  Good luck Tyler.

2016 NFL Draft – Rounds 2 and 3
Chicago, Illinois

When

Friday, April 29th, 7pm ET

Where

Auditorium Theater

TV Coverage

NFL Network, ESPN 2

Online stream

NFL.com/Live

Announcers

NFL Network: Rich Eisen, Mike Mayock, Rhett Lewis, Charles Davis, Urban Meyer, Daniel Jeremiah, Brian Billick, Michael Robinson, Ian Rapoport, Melissa Stark

ESPN 2: Trey Wingo, Mel Kiper, Jr., Louis Riddick, Adam Schefter, Todd McShay

Selection Time Limits:

Round 2: 7 minutes per pick
Round 3: 5 minutes per pick
Compensatory picks: 4 minutes per pick