Bengals: Is Tyler Boyd a viable fantasy football option this week?

Top Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd faces a favorable matchup against a Cowboys secondary, but is that enough to start him in most leagues?

For many, week 14 marks the first fantasy football playoff matchups of the season. Now that you’re facing the elite teams within your league, there’s very little room for error. This puts managers that have relied on Cincinnati Bengals wideout Tyler Boyd to get them into the postseason in a bind.

With Joe Burrow under center, Boyd was easily a viable option, as he received a favorable share of targets from the rookie signal-caller. With Burrow down to injury, however, the choice to put Boyd among your starters becomes more difficult.

In his first full week without his star quarterback, Boyd fell flat, netting just 1.5 points in non-PPR leagues. That’s enough to be skittish of his fantasy prospects, but he had a bounce-back performance last week, racking up 13.2 points despite being ejected early on in the game, complicating the decision at hand.

A touchdown and 72-yards receiving looks good on paper, but the entirety of his stat line came from a single play. Was Boyd in line to continue dominating or was it simply a single moment of greatness?

The pros and cons of Tyler Boyd’s matchup in week 14

It’s no secret the Bengals’ offense has been horrific without the talented arm of Joe Burrow fueling it. However, Zac Taylor and co. are facing arguably the worst defense in the league with the Dallas Cowboys coming to town.

America’s Team is giving up the second-most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers so far. That fact is fueled by their surrender of the most passing touchdowns in the league. In other words, it seems like a fair assumption that Boyd will be able to find the end zone at some point in Sunday’s contest.

Boosting Boyd’s potential even further is the fact that Tee Higgins is listed as questionable. If the rookie sensation is unable to go, Boyd becomes the premier receiver for Brandon Allen to rely on, if he wasn’t already.

Starting Boyd is certainly no sure thing, especially after what we’ve seen from the offense in the past two weeks. However, the stellar slot wideout has proven consistently over the past few years that he’s been able to produce even when the team around him is crumbling. That should be enough to provide some confidence that he’ll put together a solid stat line in week 14.