Brandon Boykin’s Perfect Fit at Slot Cornerback for Panthers

Brandon Boykin’s Skill Set

Brandon Boykin’s height might be a turn off, but do not allow that to alter the perception of his game. He is a highly athletic corner with underrated ball skills. Dave Gettleman said of Boykin “He’s athletic, smart, instinctive, tough, and has quality ball skills.”

Boykin’s instincts and ball skills are consistently on display. He reads the pattern by Maxx Williams and steps right in front of him to deflect the pass.

Boykin, once again, shows that his height is not detrimental to his success. He plays the bubble screen perfectly by stepping right in front of the bigger wide receiver and nearly intercepts it.

Here is another example of Boykin’s underrated ball skills coupled with his athleticism. He sticks with the wide receiver for the entire route and makes a nice play on the ball.

Boykin’s toughness is exceptional. He is a quality blitzer and his tackling technique is a strength. Boykin is the slot cornerback on the far side of the field. He immediately tackles the receiver running the drag route. He attacks from a wide base, wraps up, and finishes with strength. Excellent technique.

Here are a couple more examples of his perfect tackling technique. McDermott’s scheme relies on cornerbacks to keep receivers in front of the ball and prevent yards after catch.

Sean McDermott has an arsenal of blitz calls, but one blitz that he has shown with regularity is the nickel blitzes. Boykin has a perfect skill set for getting to the quarterback too. Ryan Mallet is one of the bigger quarterbacks in the NFL and he is not easy to bring down. Boykin is comes off the edge with good speed, but he also does a fine job of shedding the block of the running back.

The Panthers had a darn good pass defense last season. According to DVOA , they ranked number two in the NFL. Boykin will have the benefit of a strong front seven, so he could have plenty of opportunities to demonstrate his ball skills. His role on the Panthers defense will be to take over Courtland Finnegan’s snaps as the primary nickel cornerback.

Unfortunately, the Steelers did not utilize Boykin’s skill set until late in the season. If he can receive ample snaps during the start of the year, the Panthers should see their pass defense improve.