in his debut game for the bulldogs on 4 april 2015, boyd was well-held by eagle jeremy mcgovern but managed to kick an important late goal to help his new club secure a round 1 win over the west coast eagles. on 22 june 2015, he earned the afl's rising star nomination for round 12 after kicking four goals and recording eight marks in a win over the brisbane lions. following a poor showing in the bulldogs' round 16 game against geelong, boyd was dropped from the senior squad and failed to be recalled to the afl level for the rest of the season, playing out the year with the team's vfl side. he helped footscray reach the vfl finals, kicking two goals in the team's semi-final loss to essendon.