The Patriots purchased a lottery ticket with the 187th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
In Kayshon Boutte, New England has a young receiver talented enough to become a top offensive weapon as soon as this season. But it also has a player who wouldn't surprise anyone if he's off the roster before the start of training camp. The Patriots took a calculated risk in the sixth round, which is the appropriate time for such a gamble.
Boutte was the second-ranked wideout in the 2020 recruiting class and arrived at LSU as a local star with significant fanfare. And he largely delivered on the hype as a true freshman, catching 45 passes for a team-leading 735 receiving yards and five touchdowns. He punctuated the campaign with a remarkable 14-catch, 308-yard performance against Ole Miss that included three TDs. Boutte continued producing as a sophomore, racking up 38 catches for 509 yards and nine touchdowns through his first six games. At the time, he looked like a future first-round pick.
Then the wheels fell off.
Boutte missed the rest of the season due to a broken right ankle, which required a second surgery during the offseason. He looked like a diminished player in 2022, appearing in 11 of a possible 14 games while catching just 48 passes for 538 yards and two TDs. The Louisiana native dealt with more ankle issues late in the year and in early March submitted a terrible performance at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine, plunging his draft stock even further. Along the way, Boutte clashed with the LSU coaching staff, displayed questionable in-game effort and developed a reputation as an immature prospect.
Some NFL teams reportedly left Boutte entirely off their draft boards due to coachability concerns. But the Patriots gave him a shot and are committed to giving him every opportunity to succeed in New England.
So, what kind of player are they getting? We took a deep dive into Boutte's college film to find out.
YAC machine
Boutte's ability after the catch is obvious and lives up to the hype. While he has enough speed to be a traditional downfield threat, Boutte really makes his living in open space, where he showed electrifying run-after-catch ability before and after his ankle injury.
The tape from his monstrous game against Ole Miss is something to behold.
That game isn't an outlier. Boutte's college film is littered with plays that feature him catching short and immediate passes before turning them into huge gains or touchdowns.
But it's not just about big-yardage plays. The Patriots need more players capable of catching quick passes, including screens, and using their athleticism to shed tacklers and pick up first downs. This is where the loss of James White really showed up last season, to the point that New England turned to cornerback Marcus Jones for a spark.
If Boutte earns a role this season, it likely will be due to these kinds of plays:
Boutte also shows an uncanny ability to find creative ways to pick up a few extra yards. Just look at this play against Florida:
Catch radius
Boutte has average size for a receiver, listed at 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds. And those limitations do show up from time to time. Most experts believe his path toward success in the NFL is as a slot receiver.
However, when healthy, Boutte possesses rare athleticism that enables him to make highlight-reel catches on the boundary. He does a good job of attacking the ball and contorting his body to make difficult catches.
These two catches from his 2021 game against Kentucky -- the second of which resulted in his season-ending ankle injury -- illustrate the point:
Route-running/contested-catch issues
Overall, when engaged, Boutte is a solid route-runner with plenty of room to grow. There are plenty of examples of him using head fakes and other subtle moves to generate separation, even on plays in which he isn't targeted.
But Boutte also can get sloppy on his routes and has a penchant for turning around too late, allowing defenders to stay close and break up passes.
The same issues also lead to outright drops.
Rookie receivers in New England have a hard enough time picking up the playbook and adjusting to the cut-throat culture. If they also aren't on point with their route-running, they'll never see the field.
Again, Boutte could carve out a role this season on screens and other quick-hitting plays. But long-term, he'll need to fine-tune his routes if he wants significant playing time.
Inconsistent over the middle
To that end, all slot receivers, especially those playing for the Patriots, must be comfortable going over the middle and taking big hits. Boutte was inconsistent in that regard throughout his LSU career.
We hardly would call him a "soft" receiver; he's an occasionally willing blocker and is physical in the middle of the field when he's going right. But Boutte also shows a tendency to ease up when targeted across the middle. Sometimes he goes right to the ground after catching a pass despite having plenty of room to stay up and pick up extra yards.
Are we reading too much into those plays? Maybe. But it's hard to watch them and not wonder whether Boutte was worried about taking big hits.
Questionable effort
Boutte didn't slip to the sixth round because of spotty route running and a lingering ankle issue. His stock plummeted due to character and coachability concerns, including numerous instances of poor effort during his final season in Baton Rouge. There are plenty of examples, but a sequence from LSU's season opener against Florida State really stands out.
Boutte still didn't have a catch with 6:20 left in the second quarter. The Tigers, facing a third-and-6 near the goal line, then committed a false-start penalty, which prompted an animated reaction from Boutte. He dogged it on the next play, failing to look for the ball on a play that should've been a touchdown.
Take a look:
It was so bad that broadcaster and former NFL quarterback Greg McElroy later ripped into Boutte and accused him of taking the play off.
The biggest problem is that Boutte failed to learn from the incident and dealt with similar problems throughout the season. It's one thing to pull the diva-receiver act during a frustrating Week 1 loss, it's another to repeat the behavior over the remainder of the season.
Obviously, that won't fly with the Patriots.
Injury concerns
After getting drafted, Boutte insisted his ankle injury no longer was a concern and that he should be ready for spring practices. We'll just have to take him at his word.
But there's no denying that lingering effects of Boutte's broken ankle contributed to his struggles in 2022. While he still showed flashes of his pre-injury form, Boutte also lacked the same burst and explosiveness, especially in run-after-catch situations.
He didn't look right on virtually every play from last season's game against Ole Miss.
Boutte deserves credit for gutting through what clearly was a nagging injury. Coming back from a broken ankle isn't easy, regardless of how good of an athlete you are.
The Patriots only can hope that Boutte is back to 100% and that his reported character issues are overblown. If he puts his best foot forward in New England, Boutte has more than enough talent to turn into a late-round steal.
