Miles Boykin stood on the other side of the Steelers-Ravens rivalry a year ago and watched as Pittsburgh — somewhat surprisingly — handed Baltimore a pair of losses.
A year later, he’s hoping that the Steelers’ winning streak, which currently sits at four straight games, continues.
Boykin, a third round pick of the Ravens in 2019, was released by Baltimore in April. The next day, the Steelers scooped up the former Notre Dame wideout.
And Boykin’s addition has been impactful, particularly in special teams, where he has been the team’s best performer in the third phase of the game. The foundation of that started while Boykin was with his current team’s biggest rival.
“There's a reason why the Ravens and the Steelers always have two of the two best special teams units in the league, and that's because Mike (Tomlin) and (Jim Harbaugh) harp on it,” Boykin said.
“Harbaugh harps on it, and they get guys in the building that can play special teams. If you're in Baltimore, it doesn't matter where you're drafted, you're playing special teams. I watched their film and see Kyle Hamilton, a first round draft pick, and he's playing special teams."
The Ravens appear set to start Tyler Huntley Sunday, as starting quarterback Lamar Jackson is dealing with a knee injury. But Huntley isn’t exactly getting thrown in to the deep end. He played in seven games last season, including the regular season finale against the Steelers.
“Lot of confidence,” Boykin said of how the Ravens view the 24-year-old. “A lot of confidence, which stemmed from last year with how he played when Lamar got hurt.
“Obviously, all the guys love him. The coaches have confidence in him and they're going to make a friendly game plan for him in terms of his talents, and let him go to work. They're not afraid to let him put them in his hands and let him make a play.”
The Steelers were successful against Huntley and Boykin in the final game last season, as the Ravens passed for only 141 yards. Huntley did run for 72 yards.
That said, Boykin was impressed with how Huntley handled himself.
“His poise in the pocket is unbelievable for someone who's that young,” he said. “I think he wowed a lot of other people. But really in that facility and in that building, everybody kind of expected it out of him just because of the way he practices every day.
“But, yeah, super calm in the pocket, makes plays, extremely mobile. It's ridiculous how mobile he is and how fast he really is once you get up to him in person.”
Boykin feels like there aren’t too many surprises to be had when the Steelers and Ravens meet. Their familiarity is strong. The teams are more than rivals. They are, in many ways, cut from the same cloth.
Because of that, Boykin downplays his ability to prove any inside secrets on what Baltimore’s offense will do, because Tomlin probably already has an idea.
“From going against their defense in practice and going against their corners all the time in practice, that's more things that I can help out with rather than what their offense is going to do against us,” Boykin said.
“They already know. They've seen it every year.”