For an UFA, Tim Boyle is getting a lot of attention in Green Bay.
BOYLE: ‘I CAN'T WAIT TO JOIN ROGERS, PACKERS,OTHER QBs
Quarterback Tim Boyle took advantage of a fresh start and a strong pro day to land a spot with the Packers.
Bill Huber - 3 hours ago
Tim Boyle was hoping to be drafted, but his Saturday had a happy ending when the Eastern Kentucky quarterback agreed to a contract with the Green Bay Packers.
“I’m still with the team I wanted to go with, still signed a contract,” Boyle told Packer Report on Monday. “So, not disappointed. Just looking at this as I got a great opportunity from a great team.”
That opportunity got even better about a half-hour after the interview. That’s when the Packers released last year’s No. 3 quarterback, Joe Callahan. That makes it a four-man quarterback derby heading into the start of offseason practices, with Boyle joining Aaron Rodgers, Brett Hundley and recently acquired DeShone Kizer.
“Unbelievable. It’s a blessing, honestly,” Boyle said. “You always hear people talking about, ‘You surround yourself with people who make you better.’ Just the fact that I get to be around that group of quarterbacks, it’s going to be such a blessing for me as a player. Just to be around that knowledge and experience is going to help me as a player. I can’t wait to get in the room with them.”
Boyle is a native of Middlefield, Conn., and stayed home to play for Connecticut. He started four games as a freshman, three games as a sophomore and the final game of his junior season. Nothing went right. He completed just 48.4 percent of his passes with one touchdown and 13 interceptions.
Turmoil in the program stunted his development.
“The three years I was at UConn, I had three different head coaches, three different offensive coordinators, three different quarterback coaches,” Boyle said. “I wasn’t winning a whole lot of games. I wanted a clean slate, go somewhere where I could start fresh, get my confidence back a little bit.”
That clean slate was found at Eastern Kentucky, an FCS school.
He had to sit out the 2016 season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules. The step back helped Boyle take a step forward. He hit the weight room and gained 10 pounds of quality weight. He joined the coaching staff for game-planning meetings. He gained a deeper insight into offensive concepts and how to attack defenses.
The results didn’t necessarily show on the field. He completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 2,134 yards with 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The Colonels went 4-7. Nonetheless, he’s happy with how he grew during his two years in Richmond, Ky.
“I think it went well,” he said. “Our record didn’t symbolize how good of a team we were, nor my numbers. You put the tape on, I know where I’m going with the ball. The majority of my interceptions, I’m throwing a screen pass and it gets tipped and it lands in the guy’s arms. Or I get hit as I throw and it pops in the air and somebody catches it. There are only a certain amount of instances where interceptions were bonehead moves on my part from a decision-making standpoint.”
After the tepid numbers, a strong pro day helped him get on NFL radars. His 40-yard time of 4.75 seconds would have been third-best among the quarterbacks at the Scouting Combine and his 35.5-inch vertical jump would have been the best. Boyle took a predraft visit to Green Bay. He left hoping he’d return.
“The pro day was huge,” he said. “The biggest thing for me was to show teams that I’m athletic -- I’m a big body but I’m also athletic -- and that I can sling the ball around. I think I achieved both of those. I put up good numbers and I threw the ball pretty well, so I accomplished those things. Obviously, it was a huge day for me, just because I couldn’t go to the Combine. I’m glad the Green Bay scout was there and he got to see it.”
Bill Huber is publisher of PackerReport.com and has written for Packer Rep
