A Tribute to Kayshon Boutte: The Latest Patriots Prospect These Old Balls Were Dead Wrong About

Kevin Sabitus. Getty Images.

By now you've no doubt read Jack Mac's post about Kayshon Boutte:

A man touched by the gridiron gods with natural ability. Exposed as a one man illegal sports gambling crime wave. He's the 1919 Black Sox in shoulder pads. That right fielder on Roy Hobbs' NY Knights team in yellow and purple. He's 1978 Boston College Basketball South. He's Bayou Tim Dongahy. Tim Donauxghy. Coming soon to a 30 for 30 near you.

And I wouldn't let a momentous occasion pass without taking my latest L in what is a growing list of Patriots acquisitions I put my faith in, only to have it crushed like a beer can under the heel of their disappointment. Whether it's their failure on the field  such as Juju Smith-Schuster, DeVante Parker and Mac Jones. Or their crippling off the field issues like Jack Jones, of course Aaron Murdnandez, and now this assclown. 

So here's a look back on my ill-fated hope that Boutte was going to become the asset the worst offense in the league desperately needed. From shortly after the draft:

Simply put, Boutte is compelling for reasons good and bad. There's a lot to love about his game, and reasons to wonder whether there are legitimate concerns that caused him to fall to 187. Mostly good. Which is where we'll start.

For openers, and it bears repeating, Boutte was on his way to being a mortal lock 1st rounder early in his career. He's 5-foot-11, 197 pounds, with 4.41 speed. That's a rare size/speed blender drink indeed …

In 10 games in 2020, he hauled in 45 receptions on 76 targets for 735 yards, 16.3 YPC, and five touchdowns, almost exclusively lined up out wide.

Then in 2021, he was off to a great start while splitting his time between the boundary X-receiver spot and the slot, with NINE touchdowns in his first six games. When he was repeatedly charbroiling top corners. Including the best playmaker in this draft [Emmanuel Forbes].

Then when Boutte had some detractors at LSU for the way he didn't get along with Brian Kelly's staff (no sin in that), he got a boost from no less a source than LSU and Patriots legend Kevin Faulk:

Then there was his inability to get the Pats coaches to get him on the field. Despite the fact they trusted him enough to give him 45 snaps in Week 1, he twice failed to get his feet in bounds on sideline routes. Including on the Pats last play from scrimmage, that resulted in a turnover on downs instead of keeping a potential game-winning drive alive. The whole rest of the season he took a grand total of 40 snaps. And Belichick was in no mood to waste time worrying about the rookie's feelings:

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Which makes sense, in retrospect. Not that Belichick knew his latest purchase off the draft's Sixth Round Wide Receiver Clearance Rack was involved in 8,900 illegal bets. Just that he must've had some sense this guy wasn't worth the time or effort to develop him. 

And with his arrest, Boutte's name gets added to the pile of terrible judgment calls by the Patriots personnel department. Particularly the college scouting staff. The blame will fall on GM Bill, as it should since he cost HC Bill his job. But just keep this in mind as we head into this next draft, which is absolutely crucial to the long term prospects of the franchise. The process for determining who will be a reliable professional and who's a mercurial shitbag who is not to be trusted with an iota of our draft capital has been broken for a while now. And if we're not going to be in the Top 3 picks on a permanent basis around here, it has to get fixed. And fast. 

This is simple but bears repeating: Gamble responsibly. And never on your own team's games. 1-800-GAMBLER.

P.S. All those "Boutte" jokes people couldn't help making on the rare occasions he got to play are going to absolutely crush now that he's in prison.