Matt Waldman revisits Patriot WR Kayshon Boutte’s pre-NFL Draft scouting report from the 2023 Rookie Scouting Portfolio
WR Kayshon Boutte RSP Scouting Profile
RSP Ranking: WR5
Height/Weight: 5-11/195 School: LSU
Player Comparison Spectrum: Robert Woods-X-Jarvis Landry – – Pharoh Cooper
Depth of Talent Score: 85.9 = Starter: Starting immediately with large role and learning on the go.
Games Tracked (Opponent/Date/Link):
The Elevator Pitch: NFL.com researcher and analyst, Chad Reuter is a good friend of mine. We briefly chatted about players post-NFL Combine and he comped Boutte with Jarvis Landry.
Reuter noted that both players had poor marks in the Vertical Leap and they spend much of their time playing with their feet on the ground. A lack of a strong vertical doesn’t factor heavily against their style of play.
Not only is Reuter’s assessment on the mark, but another player with nearly the same dimension and metrics, including the poor vertical, is Robert Woods. And from what I’ve seen, Boutte’s style of play and athletically is most accurately a bridge in skill and styles between Landry and Woods.
Landry isn’t quick enough to consistently win outside with short and intermediate routes against man coverage at a level where you want him as an outside receiver in most offenses. Woods has better acceleration and speed to do so.
Boutte has better acceleration and short-area quickness than both and it shows up on the field with his release, routes, and ball-carrying. His release game has a wide repertoire of moves and he can issue them with patience, suddenness, and violence.
While he lacks the top-end long speed to stack defenders late in a route, he can do so when he earns separation within the first 10-15 yards. With his release work, it’s not a rare occurrence.
Boutte is adept at using his eyes to set up breaks as he’s using his stems to manipulate his opponents. His breaks are tight, sharp, have snap, and he works quickly back to the ball.
Like Zay Flowers, Boutte processes the field fast enough to anticipate the angles of oncoming pursuit just as he’s making the catch. As a result, he’ll make an immediate move away from the defender a beat earlier than many receivers who would otherwise take contact or get tackled.
Boutte almost always makes the first man miss in the open field. This is a combination of his footwork, vision, processing speed, and selection of moves.
Like Woods and Landry, Boutte is a tough football player who can take contact and maintain possession of the ball. He’s not going to bounce off a lot of hits in the open field, but he’ll slip reaches and pull through some wraps.
Boutte should contribute immediately, if not start, with time spent as a flanker and/or slot receiver. If he doesn’t have a long career it won’t have to do with his skills. I anticipate a long career unless the ankle injury that required two surgeries is a lingering concern.
Where is the player inconsistent? He can be a step late on speed breaks because he doesn’t always accelerate out of his turns.
What is the best scheme fit? An offense that likes to be multiple or have its receivers play multiple roles within the offense. Minnesota, Carolina, Tennessee, and Denver could be worthwhile fits—especially if Denver parts ways with his receivers and Sean Payton’s offense sees Boutte as a fit, which I think they would. Baltimore is a good fit, in theory, even if some changes with Todd Monken as the offensive coordinator are in store.
What is his ceiling scenario? A high-volume flanker-slot option capable of 1,000-1,200 yards and 5-7 scores during his peak years—maybe more with at top quarterback and strong surrounding talent.
What is his floor scenario? A player restricted from maximizing his talents due to scheme and only compiles 700-900 yards during his prime. Or, injuries prevent him from developing to his potential.
Physical: Fearless over the middle.
Technical: LSU uses him on either side of the formation on the perimeter and from the slot.
Conceptual: Boutte uses his movement skills well with releases and as a ballcarrier. His selection is often on point.
Intuitive: He processes the game fast when transitioning from pass-catcher to ball-carrier.
Build: A medium-sized slot/smaller flanker.
Releases: Boutte has a staggered stance with 80/20 weight distribution favoring his front leg. He has an athletic bend with his stance. His arms hang at either side of his front leg and when he releases, he comes off lower and with his eyes up and pads over his knees. There’s a rock with his back foot during his release on several routes per game, but he also has an equal number of routes where he sinks lower into his stance and has a get-off with no wasted motion. He rolls off his front foot.
He’ll dip his shoulder to avoid contact at the line. He has a quick read step combined with a violent wipe when releasing inside against tight coverage at the line. His Quick-Two is also effective. He combines it with a violent shed against inside shade on out-breaking routes.
He has a violent stick and waits to use his hands until the defender initiates. He’ll counter with a wipe.
He has an efficient hip shift on vertical routes, incorporating a head fake with the movement and countering the defender’s hands with a wipe.
He’ll anticipate the hands of a defender after attacking the leverage of corner with his feet. However, there are some short patterns where Boutte doesn’t use his feet to attack leverage and only uses his hands to separate and he doesn’t earn separation.
Boutte also uses the lean-in at the top of stems against off-coverage that earns tight position. He’ll pair it with a shoulder reduction off the line to earn separation against tight inside shade on an out-breaking route.
He’ll steal a release in the run game and one of the moves he’ll use is a double up.
Separation: Against a cornerback playing off-coverage with outside shade, Boutte can hold off a fast cornerback for 40-50 yards when he has room to work across the field. He can hold off several SEC corners in the middle of the field for the same distance and without veering away from them. He can beat high safeties up the seam. He will stack a corner when he earns early separation.
Route Stems: He’ll widen or dive with his stems early in his release.
Route Setups: Boutte will take the inside hip of the defender and work into the defender’s back when running intermediate and vertical routes. He’ll use his eyes to setup breaks with sticks or hip shifts.
He’ll use a peek with a stick to sell the potential fade at the top of a stem against off-coverage to set up the break inside.
He can stair-step against off-coverage.
Route Breaks: He has a tight, sharp break with his slants. He gets his eyes to the quarterback quickly out of his breaks and presents a friendly target with his frame.
When routes breaking back to the quarterback, Boutte can punch the sideline arm and generate a snap with his turn. He can use the long break step and drop his weight into the break. He’s also quick to come out of the break and break back to the ball on the comeback.
When his first break doesn’t take him to an open area, he quickly reroutes to an open area. He also transitions well from that scramble drill break to a blocker for his quarterback or the check-down receiver.
He has a sharp speed turn with a well-pointed drive and line steps to facilitate a flat turn. He also breaks back to the quarterback. When running intermediate route stems, he has to deliver speed breaks with more acceleration out of the turn or else he can be a step late.
Zone Routes: Boutte identifies the second-level defender, works to depth, and settles into the open area while creating a friendly target with his torso.
Route Boundary: He’s aware of the boundary when catching vertical routes and ensures he has room to take two steps after the catch before exiting the sideline. He also has the body control to lean across the boundary and keep his toes pointed inside the boundary. He can also drag his feet when extending across the boundary for a wide and high target.
Pass Tracking: Boutte tracks the ball over his shoulder against tight coverage on vertical routes. He displays late hands at the catch point on vertical routes.
Hands/Catch Radius: He extends his arms to the ball with targets that arrive at chest-level, meeting the ball with his hands. He does the same with overhand and underhand position. He can make sliding catches with underhand position with targets that arriving behind his break point.
He will attack the ball at the earliest point with a lot of chest-level targets. He can highpoint as well as secure targets high and wide from his frame.
He attacks high-velocity targets with excellent quickness and hand strength to earn targets that are difficult due to the high velocity and short distance.
When he’s unprepared for difficult targets away from frame, his process degenerates into clapping. Or, he alters his hand position too late for the target’s arrival.
Position: When executing jump backs on fades, he must use overhand position with coverage at his hip. Otherwise, his underhand position opens him up to defenders knocking the ball free or Boutte unintentionally tips the ball upward because the catch position is suboptimal.
He can turn 180 degrees to track the ball on the move while on a vertical route.
Focus: He can take contact to his back while attacking the ball away from his frame.
Transitions: Boutte transitions immediately downhill on slants. However, I want to see him keep his feet more often when targets arrive into his frame.
Elusiveness: He has effective head and shoulder fakes. He also has a smooth spin in tight space to avoid a pursuit angle from over the top. He has efficient and sharp footwork that allows his to stop quickly, flip his hips, and restart his track in another direction, avoiding shots to his legs from pursuit. He needs one gather step at the edge to transition downhill.
He can execute jump cuts in succession to weave around pursuit and into open creases. He has efficient jump stops and hops to avoid reaches to his lower legs. He’s especially good at getting his feet up to avoid reaches and wraps to his lower legs.
He almost always makes the first man miss in the open field. This is a combination of his footwork, vision, processing speed, and selection of moves.
Vision: He works to open space with good feel. He’s also patient with his pace and footwork to set up blockers. On the perimeter, Boutte will press inside-out to set up edge blocks. He reads leverage well enough to make good cutback decisions. He displays awareness of the sticks and pylon and he’ll extend the ball if he’s close.
Like Zay Flowers, Boutte anticipates angles of nearby defenders as he’s catching the ball and makes immediate adjustments that had to be formulated before he secured the target.
Power: Boutte pulls through reaches to his legs and keeps his feet moving through contact. He uses the stiff-arm to ward off reaches.
Indirect Contact Balance: He can bounce off indirect contact to his side or back from a cornerback coming downhill.
Blocking: He transitions well from a break during a scramble drill to a blocker for his quarterback or the check-down receiver. He earns tight enough position to use his hands and generate a push that move his opponent off his spot.
Boutte is an adequate stalk blocker who squares his target, breaks down with his hips bent, and keeps his arms tight with bent elbows that reach the chest of the defender. He needs to work to get tighter to the defender after contact. He moves his feet square to remain square after contact.
He effectively runs off opponents downfield and then tilts into them to shield them from the ballcarrier.
Ball Security: Boutte carries the ball low from his chest near his hip and with his elbow loose. He tightens the security and has the ball higher to his frame when he’s securing a target in traffic. Boutte’s carriage can handle contact to the ball when he’s using secure techniques. He also uses his boundary-side arm.
Durability: Two ankle surgeries—one a follow-up procedure. Suffered injury during 2021 and missed the rest of the year.
Pre-NFL Draft Fantasy Advice: Boutte’s statistical ceiling may have greater variance than the three receivers ranked above him because he’s not the as dynamic of an athlete and there’s a risk he’s pigeon-holed early like Robert Woods was in Buffalo. Without knowing where he goes, bank on his talent and expect a receiver capable of at least top-36 production at his position when he begins playing as a regular contributor.
Boiler/Film Room Material (Links to plays):
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