Damiere Byrd WR, South Carolina to Panthers

[gettlemanjack]

Byrd's speed is legitimate.

Found on Reddit:

No surprise there. Damiere Byrd was the HS national indoor champion in the 60m and a state champion in the 100m as a HS track sprinter. Kind of wish he would've done track in college as he could've potentially challenged for an NCAA championship. However, like a lot of former football players/track standouts he prioritized football over track.

To put into perspective how fast he is. As a senior Byrd beat Marvin Bracy in the 60m at the 2011 Brooks Invitational. Presently, Marvin Bracy is one of the youngest professional track sprinters in the world and last year placed 2nd at the IAAF World Championships in the 60m and 1st at the US Indoor Championships. Marvin Bracy is one of the top 10 fastest sprinters in the US and Damiere Byrd was faster than him at one point.

I read he was SEC champ in the 60, plan on looking it up when i read his SC bio. Reminds me of Trindon Holiday, a little guy out of LSU that was a track star for LSU. Was a really good kick returner in the NFL except he fumbled too much

[gettlemanjack]

GC Game Updates @ GCgameday

Sep 13

Cooper stays in as Damiere Byrd takes the speed sweep and

picks up 14 yards.

[gettlemanjack]

Willie Smith @ willie_t_smith

Sep 13

We have a Damiere Byrd sighing. Catching a 22-yard pass at the

UGA 38. #Gamecocks

[gettlemanjack]

Alyssa Lang WLTX

@ AlyssaLang

Aug 28

Yikes. Aggies' Elliot Pope pulls in the TD and mimics Damiere

Byrd 's bird hand-motion from Byrd 's TD a few mins ago. He

went there

Jeff Svoboda @ JeffSvoboda

Aug 28

What if Damiere Byrd was actually a bird?

Pete Scantlebury @ PeteScantlebury

Aug 28

Damiere Byrd makes a bird signal to the crowd when he scores.

No flag. Markus Golden places the ball down and points at the

crowd. Flag.

[gettlemanjack]

James Starks @ JamesStarksKPRC

Aug 1

WR Damiere Byrd reacting to a "South Jersey" chant.

[gettlemanjack]

Heath Cline @ heathradio

Jul 24

SC RB coach Everette Sands just told us David Williams is the

second fastest player on the team with a 4.34 40. Only Damiere

Byrd 's faster.

[Pimpdaddy]

...I can hear the call in the huddle....Jet on two..break!....Hell let Cam try to over throw him.

[SCMunnerlyn1]

um that film/tape/video/clips/highlight thing was awsome. Obviously not lilsmity style but I like the change.

I hope he makes the squad.

its mine preciate it. I made it as a joke I also sent it to him on facebook he got a good laugh out of it.

[uscgamecocks]

Answer me this Cock fans: How is he out of the backfield? I can see from his stats Spurrier handed the ball off to him 22 times...is he an NFL option as a scatback?

Nope. Not enough wiggle. All of his handoffs were outside runs - usually sweeps. He's okay running on a screen but not up the gut.

[FootballMaestro]

Byrd's speed is legitimate.

Found on Reddit:

No surprise there. Damiere Byrd was the HS national indoor champion in the 60m and a state champion in the 100m as a HS track sprinter. Kind of wish he would've done track in college as he could've potentially challenged for an NCAA championship. However, like a lot of former football players/track standouts he prioritized football over track.

To put into perspective how fast he is. As a senior Byrd beat Marvin Bracy in the 60m at the 2011 Brooks Invitational. Presently, Marvin Bracy is one of the youngest professional track sprinters in the world and last year placed 2nd at the IAAF World Championships in the 60m and 1st at the US Indoor Championships. Marvin Bracy is one of the top 10 fastest sprinters in the US and Damiere Byrd was faster than him at one point.

 

Well hopefully, if he catches the ball wide open with all the attention KB, Funchess and Olsen will get, then he doesn't have to worry about getting hit, and just catch, then run with the damn ball. LOL

 

[B.BERSIN]

As a USC fan I wasn't too excited about this signing at first. But the more I think about it - I actually think he has a decent shot of making the team.

First - he doesn't have great size. But he's just 4/10 of an inch shorter and 10 pounds lighter than Phillip Dorsett, who went in the first round (and who many on this site loved as a prospect). Importantly, he is every bit as fast as Dorsett and is considered a superior athlete to Dorsett by SPARQ (Byrd #7 overall receiver, Dorsett is #9).

Why might he make the roster?

1) Speed. Speed has been a priority this offseason. And while Philly Brown is fast, he doesn't have true speed like Byrd. Byrd and Ginn (and Hill) are in a class of their own on this roster - their speed can create space for Benjamin, Funchess, and Olsen to dominate underneath.

2) Special Teams. Gettleman has said that in order to make the roster as a backup this year you will have to play multiple positions and/or contribute on special teams. With his speed, Byrd could be an amazing gunner on punt coverage. At USC, Byrd was a safety valve on kick coverage - he chased down multiple returners from

behind to prevent sure TDs. He could certainly return kicks as well.

3) Competiton. Even after adding Funchess, we are not stacked at WR. Benjamin and Funchess are locked in. I think Cotchery is a lock as well though he likely plays less this year - he is a vet presence that helped Benjamin and will help Funchess. I think Philly showed a lot of promise and will earn a spot in camp. Ginn is a lock as well given his speed and special teams roles.

But do we stick with just 5 spots his year? If we want fast guys on special teams I could easily see us keeping a sixth wideout. Could Byrd beat out Boykin? Bersin? Hill? It's possible. I think Hill or Byrd have a better shot than Boykin/Bersin given their potential contributions on special teams. And Byrd has better hands than Hill.

In summary - Byrd is athletically very similar to Phillip Dorsett though Dorsett is clearly a much better receiver at this point - that's why he was a first round pick. But Byrd brings something the top WRs on this team don't have and could be a big contributor on special teams. Great risk to take as an UDFA signing.

Don't forget Dylan Thompson is lame.

[top dawg]

As a USC fan I wasn't too excited about this signing at first. But the more I think about it - I actually think he has a decent shot of making the team.

First - he doesn't have great size. But he's just 4/10 of an inch shorter and 10 pounds lighter than Phillip Dorsett, who went in the first round (and who many on this site loved as a prospect). Importantly, he is every bit as fast as Dorsett and is considered a superior athlete to Dorsett by SPARQ (Byrd #7 overall receiver, Dorsett is #9).

Why might he make the roster?

1) Speed. Speed has been a priority this offseason. And while Philly Brown is fast, he doesn't have true speed like Byrd. Byrd and Ginn (and Hill) are in a class of their own on this roster - their speed can create space for Benjamin, Funchess, and Olsen to dominate underneath.

2) Special Teams. Gettleman has said that in order to make the roster as a backup this year you will have to play multiple positions and/or contribute on special teams. With his speed, Byrd could be an amazing gunner on punt coverage. At USC, Byrd was a safety valve on kick coverage - he chased down multiple returners from

behind to prevent sure TDs. He could certainly return kicks as well.

3) Competiton. Even after adding Funchess, we are not stacked at WR. Benjamin and Funchess are locked in. I think Cotchery is a lock as well though he likely plays less this year - he is a vet presence that helped Benjamin and will help Funchess. I think Philly showed a lot of promise and will earn a spot in camp. Ginn is a lock as well given his speed and special teams roles.

But do we stick with just 5 spots his year? If we want fast guys on special teams I could easily see us keeping a sixth wideout. Could Byrd beat out Boykin? Bersin? Hill? It's possible. I think Hill or Byrd have a better shot than Boykin/Bersin given their potential contributions on special teams. And Byrd has better hands than Hill.

In summary - Byrd is athletically very similar to Phillip Dorsett though Dorsett is clearly a much better receiver at this point - that's why he was a first round pick. But Byrd brings something the top WRs on this team don't have and could be a big contributor on special teams. Great risk to take as an UDFA signing.

 

I appreciate the post.

 

 

Boykin is the slowest receiver on the roster, which isn't necessarily a good thing. But, regardless whether people want to hear it, he also has the best hands on the roster.  He also produced notably on special teams, not to mention a near 700 yard season when given the opportunity.  I only tell people this as food for thought.

 

For what it's worth (perhaps not much), people are not even mentioning Mike Brown who had a better 2013 season than the 2014 season that Corey Brown had (minus M.Brown's drops), so there is that component.

 

But, as far as Boykin, I don't see why people are just so quick to discount him as even our very on Packersfan said that he was decent:

 

See you November 8th in Carolina. Jarett Boykin was decent for us in 2013 with 49 catches and 681 receiving yards and 3 TDs. He didn't play hardly at all this last season due to injury then Adams took his spot. I wish him the best in Charlotte. Beat Dallas and Seattle for us and we will do the same.

 

Just food for thought.

[General_Purr]

Byrd is a burner.. I have seen him completely look like another species running by DBs.

 

Legit speed, legit track athlete.

 

Better route runner than talked about. Hope he gets a shot to take some deep passes from Cam

[juliosantos]

It doesn't sound like Cotchery is going anywhere based off the recent draft interviews. Few other guys he'll have to beat out as well.

rivera loves cotchery lol