2024-04-27 21:04:28
NFL Overreactions: First Round of the 2024 NFL Draft
Mackenzie Salmon breaks down some of the biggest shocks (and expected picks) of the NFL Draft on night one.
Sports seriously
Khristian Boyd has found his next football home.
The former Northern Iowa defensive tackle came off the board in the 6th round of the NFL Draft on Saturday, going to the New Orleans Saints with the No. 199 overall pick. Boyd is the seventh player selected from Mark Farley’s program since 2015.
Boyd piled up 43 tackles with 6.5 TFLs and three sacks in 11 games last fall, a first-team all-Missouri Valley Football Conference selection in his final collegiate season. It also earned him a spot on the Associated Press third-team FCS all-American team. Couple last year with a strong 2022 campaign that saw Boyd on the MVFC second team, and there was plenty of quality upperclassman tape for NFL teams to dissect.
What are the New Orleans Saints getting in Khristian Boyd?
“Boyd is a well-built inside linebacker with short arms but good strength,” read his NFL.com draft profile “He could increase his pressure totals in 2023 as a pass rusher, but he might not see the same success against an upgrade in competition. He plays with adequate upper body strength, but he doesn’t pressure and shed blocks quickly enough to ‘ to be a big factor as a runner despite his bend and anchor at the point of attack.
“Boyd has the size and strength to compete against NFL centers at nose tackle, but he may not have enough positive impact to do anything more than fight for a rotation spot as a late-Day 3 -choice not.”
Boyd popped up in nearly every seven-round mock leading into the draft, with most prognosticators predicting a Day 3 land. The Athletics Boyd went to the Miami Dolphins (No. 158 overall) in the 5th round. DraftTek.com had Boyd in the same lineup (No. 153 overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars). The UNI defense was projected a little earlier by NFL.com’s Chad Reuter (3rd round, number 97 overall to the Cincinnati Bengals) and CBSSports.com (4th round, No. 129 overall to the Minnesota Vikings).
Boyd is now on an impressive list of those who have traveled from Cedar Falls to the NFL Draft. Boyd joins Trevor Penning (1st round, 2022), Spencer Brown (3rd round, 2021), Elerson Smith (4th round, 2021) Daurice Fountain (5th round, 2018), Deiondre’ Hall (4th round, 2016) and David Johnson (3rd round, 2015) as Panthers drafted in the last decade. Prior to that time, no UNI player had been selected since 2008.
Dargan Southard is a sports trend reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.
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