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Ebony Bird Round-Table: Baltimore Ravens to watch in preseason

By Richard Bradshaw

CANTON, OH - AUGUST 02: Kamalei Correa #51 and Chris Board #49 of the Baltimore Ravens are called for an illegal hit while tackling Tanner Gentry #19 of the Chicago Bears in the third quarter of the Hall of Fame Game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium on August 2, 2018 in Canton, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
CANTON, OH - AUGUST 02: Kamalei Correa #51 and Chris Board #49 of the Baltimore Ravens are called for an illegal hit while tackling Tanner Gentry #19 of the Chicago Bears in the third quarter of the Hall of Fame Game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium on August 2, 2018 in Canton, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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SOUTH BEND, IN – OCTOBER 13: Miles Boykin #81 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish catches a touchdown pass against Dane Jackson #11 of the Pittsburgh Panthers to take the lead in the second half at Notre Dame Stadium on October 13, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN – OCTOBER 13: Miles Boykin #81 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish catches a touchdown pass against Dane Jackson #11 of the Pittsburgh Panthers to take the lead in the second half at Notre Dame Stadium on October 13, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /

Garrett Ferguson: Miles Boykin

If there is one player you should be excited to see mkaing plays this preseason it’s rookie wide receiver Miles Boykin. Boykin started off a little slow in OTA’s due to a nagging hamstring injury, but man has he shown up in training camp. Boykin possesses a rare mix of size, speed, and agility that has made him a matchup nightmare for the Ravens very talented secondary. To illustrate just how rare his physical gifts are just check out this spider graph:

Boykin tested above the 80th percentile in 9 out of the 11 measurable categories which is insane for a player taken in the third round of the draft. If it weren’t for being injured for his first two years at Notre Dame I believe he would’ve been drafted a round or two higher.

Now, we may have to temper expectations a bit with the first two preseason games because I doubt Lamar Jackson will get much playing time and backup quarterback Robert Griffin III is still sidelined for a few weeks with a fractured thumb in his throwing hand. As it is right now, the quarterbacks penciled in to get the most playing time are Trace McSorley and Joe Callahan.

Related Story. 3 goals for Ravens offense vs. Jaguars. light

During camp, McSorley has shown some promising progression with his ball placement so Boykin isn’t totally out of luck. I’d expect Boykin to play most of the first half with a handful of deep balls thrown his way and if we’re in the redzone, you better believe OC Greg Roman will want to see what his shinny new toy can do in the redzone.

The only question is: can Boykin live up to his training camp hype? If yes, he is going to be a massive piece of this offense which would be a pleasant surprise considering the luck this franchise has had with the receiver position. If not, Boykin will be just like the rest of the training camp stars that have made their way through this organization over the years (i.e. Tommy Streeter, Tandon Doss, Breshad Perriman, etc.).

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