Patriots gamble on low-probability, high-upside prospect in NFL Draft
The New England Patriots waited until the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft to finally take a wide receiver, but they still might have landed a starting-caliber pass catcher. The Patriots exclusively drafted defensive players on the first two days of the draft, then went heavy on offensive linemen early on the second day. […]
The New England Patriots waited until the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft to finally take a wide receiver, but they still might have landed a starting-caliber pass catcher.
The Patriots exclusively drafted defensive players on the first two days of the draft, then went heavy on offensive linemen early on the second day. They finally picked LSU wide receiver Kayshon Boutte with the 187th overall pick, and the way it was reported tells you everything you need to know. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport called it an “upside pick.”
Analyst Louis Riddick said on the ESPN broadcast, “If he hits, talent-wise? He’s as good as anybody they’ve got.”
Boutte, who's still just 20 years old, was expected to be the next highly drafted wide receiver out of LSU. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound wideout was a five-star recruit in the 2020 recruiting class and caught 83 passes for 1,244 yards with 14 touchdowns in his first 16 games at LSU before his sophomore season was cut short by an ankle injury. In his return to the field, he caught just 48 passes for 538 yards with two touchdowns last season. He planned to return to LSU, but “an off-field incident put his status with the team in jeopardy,” so he declared for the draft, per The Athletic’s Dane Brugler.
Then after all of that, he had a fairly disastrous showing at the NFL Scouting Combine, running a 4.50-second 40-yard dash with a 1.56-second 10-yard split, 29-inch vertical leap, 9-feet, 10-inch broad jump and 4.25-second short shuttle. His 7.14-second 3-cone drill at his pro day was also subpar.
Brugler summarized his scouting report of Boutte with the following: “Overall, Boutte is a confounding evaluation because he shows the athletic talent to be an NFL weapon, but his effort level doesn’t always match his ability, and most scouts view him as a slot-only prospect. Though he has NFL starting skills, the unpredictable nature of his game complicates his pro projection.”
Brugler still gave him a fourth-round grade.
Boutte’s 40 time was surprising since he was a track star in high school, but he said in his conference call after being selected that he was dealing with a broken bone in his ankle. PFF expected him to be a top-10 pick as recently as last year.
It truly seemed like everything that could go wrong did go wrong for Boutte starting roughly halfway through his sophomore season. But sometimes those wounds are self-inflicted.
Still, if the Patriots were going to wait until the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft to take a wide receiver to help out quarterback Mac Jones, then they couldn’t have picked a better option than Boutte.
Based on all of the extenuating circumstances that caused Boutte to fall, there’s a low probability that he’ll live up to his full potential. But one source we talked to loves his talent but is concerned about off-field and effort issues getting in the way.
“It’s a long shot, but it’s worth the swing,” he said. “He’s really good, man.”
The Athletic’s Jeff Howe reported that some teams had Boutte off their draft board for “coachability concerns.”
Boutte said all the right things after the draft.
“I am motivated more than ever probably,” Boutte said. “It’s a blessing. It’s a blessing that I made it to the NFL and get drafted by the Patriots. It’s what every kid dreams of. …
“I would say that I want everyone to know that I am a hard worker and that I’m going to give 100 percent. I feel like I have been doubted a lot, I feel like it’s time for me to prove that I’m not that same person.”
As a sixth-round pick, Boutte will have a short leash if he doesn’t prove that. The Patriots took another high-upside wide receiver in Demario Douglas in the sixth round. They’ll be battling it out for a roster spot behind JuJu Smith-Schuster, DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne and Tyquan Thornton.
The Patriots have hit on prospects with character concerns before. They signed cornerback JC Jackson as an undrafted free agent, and he turned into a Pro Bowl selection and All-Pro. They’re generally good at developing slot receivers from Julian Edelman to Jakobi Meyers. Boutte has been compared to Stefon Diggs, who similarly was drafted on Day 3 and has since turned into one of the NFL’s best wide receivers.
The source we spoke to about Boutte considers himself higher than most on the LSU receiver. But his tone was still doubtful. Ultimately, it’s all up to Boutte whether he succeeds with New England or not.
"Just got off the phone with some of these undrafted guys who we are looking to sign and had the message for them and that really goes for everybody," Patriots director of player personnel Matt Groh said after the draft. "'Now, the opportunity is yours, and it's up to you to make the most of it.'
"Kayshon had an unfortunate injury in 2021 and sometimes it takes a little bit of time to come back from those things and it's really going to be up to him to come in here with the right mindset. He's got all the potential in the world. If he wants to apply himself and to reach that potential, look, we are going to do everything we can to help him succeed. We're going to give him every resource we can as the saying goes, players are our greatest resource, and you know, we made an investment in Kayshon here in the sixth round, so looking forward to see what he can do with his opportunity."
There wasn’t a player with higher upside on the board in the sixth round, and New England still had five picks left in the draft when he was selected. Boutte’s been referred to as a “boom or bust” pick. Fortunately, it’s not much of a bust if a sixth-round pick doesn’t work out.
Featured image via Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
