The New England Patriots took a minor gamble when they selected LSU wide receiver Kayshon Boutte in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, but someone who would know thinks the selection was worth the risk.

Patriots Hall of Famer and current LSU director of Alumni Relations and Community Outreach Kevin Faulk defended Boutte against one report from The Athletic’s Jeff Howe that the wideout “was off some teams' draft boards due to coachability concerns” to the Boston Herald’s Karen Guregian. Faulk served as LSU’s running backs coach in 2020 and 2021 during Boutte’s freshman and sophomore seasons.

“All I can tell you is I don’t know where that came from,” Faulk told the Herald. “Because when I was with that kid, he was very coachable. When you say a kid’s not coachable, that means a coach can’t relate to who the kid is as a player. That’s all that is to me.”

An LSU source painted a similar picture of Boutte, once a five-star recruit and projected first-round pick, to A to Z Sports.

“Boutte was coachable,” he said. “I think people just don’t know what to make of his drop in production over the last two years.”

Boutte caught 83 passes for 1,244 yards with 14 touchdowns through his first 16 games at LSU before an ankle injury ended his sophomore season early. He caught just 48 passes for 538 yards with two touchdowns last season with the Tigers.

“You don’t know what happens to a guy when an injury happens,” Faulk. “You’ve got to have a strong mental capacity, to be able to withstand it, and move through it.”

Another league source did say off-field issues and some questions about his dedication did cause him to fall to the sixth round and described him as a “low probability hit” and “longshot” but worth the swing.

“They know what they’re getting,” Faulk told Guregian. “(New Patriots offensive coordinator) Bill O’Brien coached against him when he was with Alabama. So he knew what type of receiver he was getting.”

The LSU source also noted that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and LSU head coach Brian Kelly, who took over before Boutte’s junior season, are close and that Kelly would give New England the full picture of what they were getting as a person and a player.

Boutte, who agreed to terms on his four-year rookie contract last week, also fell in part because of a less-than-stellar performance at the NFL Scouting Combine. A track star in high school, Boutte ran just 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, 4.25-second short shuttle and 7.14-second 3-cone drill.

“He’s just always been so naturally gifted,” the LSU source said. “He’s a 200m track kid and it showed at the combine with his 40 time. Once he builds to top speed, he’s gone. But he has to get there.”

Boutte will compete with fellow sixth-round pick Demario Douglas for snaps and a roster spot behind wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster, DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne and Tyquan Thornton.

Featured image via Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports