Steelers who marched us to madness: Brandon Boykin

by Joe Kuzma (joe_kuzma) on March 27, 2017

March Madness is everywhere you look, so we here at Steel City Underground felt like getting in on the craze with a Steelers-inspired tournament all our own: Steelers Who Marched Us to Madness.

The concept is simple. Over a period of the last five seasons, there have been a number of additions the Steelers have made who came in with high expectations. Several of those additions ended as subtractions for one reason or another, leaving Pittsburgh after a disappointing run with the franchise.

We have compiled eight of those names into a March Madness-style tournament, with you, the fans, voting on who was the most disappointing acquisition who “marched us to madness”.

Steelers who marched us to madness round one

Note: realizing this could be a bit insensitive to the actual player discussed, we would like to remind everyone that the tournament only involves past players and you should only consider their time with the Steelers when voting or leaving comments. This is merely an entertainment exercise to gauge fan expectation versus how a player’s tenure in Pittsburgh turned out, which may have disappointed for any variety of reasons.

A new player profile will be released each day of the tournament. Let’s look at today’s participant.

Brandon Boykin

The saga of Brandon Boykin’s season with the Pittsburgh Steelers may go down as one of the most bizarre stories ever.

Heading into the 2015 season, the Steelers recognized that they had to fix a secondary which was falling apart. Ike Taylor and Troy Polamalu were on their way to retirement. Shamarko Thomas and Cortez Allen were thought to be their heir apparent. Antwon Blake was acquired from waivers a year earlier but barely played. Mike Mitchell was signed in free agency the previous year as well but had a rocky start as a Steeler.

To shore up any foreseeable problems Pittsburgh spent a second round draft pick on cornerback Senquez Golson. The versatile rookie was expected to play in the slot but could double as a boundary corner.

Except Golson suffered a season-ending injury near the start of training camp and would never see the field. As a move of desperation, the Steelers reached out to a Philadelphia Eagles team which was all too willing to part with their pieces that offseason. Pittsburgh traded with the team for a player who was considered one of the best nickel corners in the league: Brandon Boykin.

The cost was a conditional 2016 draft pick, depending on the amount of playing time Boykin received. If he turned out to be a valuable asset to the Steelers, the choice could be as high as a fourth-round selection.

But who cares?! The Steelers received their secondary savior!

Or so we all thought. Boykin ended up a casualty of those trade conditions, seeing very little playing time at the beginning of the season. Some speculated that it was those conditions that kept him off of the field, while other rumors pointed toward a lack of playbook knowledge for why Brandon rode the bench. Then there were the rumblings of Mike Tomlin and Boykin’s relationship with one another, which weren’t made public though the corner had, in fact, made his displeasure over a lack of playing time well known.

Whatever the factors may be, Boykin went from a highly regarded defensive back to a dud over the course of his time in Pittsburgh. He lost snaps to Ross Cockrell (who was acquired weeks after Boykin but ended the season with far more playing time) Antwon Blake (who became a starter despite giving up the most passing yards attributed to a cornerback in the entire league) and Robert Golden (a safety who entered the field in sub packages where an extra DB was required – i.e. not Boykin).

Boykin would finish the season having played just under 25% of the Steelers defensive snaps. That would cost the Steelers their next year’s fifth-round choice instead of a fourth, on a count of his low production. Boykin would have a single interception and sack, along with 16 solo tackles. He was hardly the player he was heralded to be and would vent further frustration from Steelers Nation when the defense finished two spots from dead last in pass defense for the 2015 season.