3. Kris Boyd, DB
Anybody who watched the playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs can assume why Boyd is on this list. While he forced a fumble early in the game, he ripped his helmet off and drew a 15-yard penalty before shoving special teams coach Frank Ross on the sideline.
Boyd was adamant that he was only celebrating a big play for the special teams unit but many drew the end of his Texans tenure right then and there.
But while it certainly wasn’t a good look, Boyd’s pending departure will come as the result of more than one isolated incident.
Boyd was second on the team with 406 special teams snaps last season but wasn’t a productive player on the field. According to PFF, Boyd posted a 50.7 special teams grade that ranked 59th out of 61 players with a minimum of 80% of the league lead in special teams snaps (423) this season. He also posted a league-high seven penalties on special teams and was one of two players with more than six, joining Dallas’s C.J. Goodwin.
This is nothing new for Boyd. A seventh-round pick by the Vikings, Boyd posted five penalties in his rookie season in 2019 and five more penalties during the 2022 season.
In six seasons, Boyd has posted a special teams penalty over 60 once and things got so bad, that former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer called out Boyd in a scorched-earth interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune this summer.
“Kris Boyd? He says something about me?” Zimmer said. “I’m like, ‘Dude, you had more special teams penalties than anyone I can remember.’”
Boyd may be a positive presence in the locker room as he insists, but he’s been a negative one on the field.