Brian Kelly discusses growth he's seen from Kayshon Boutte since landing LSU job

When healthy, LSU wide receiver Kayshon Boutte has proven to be a dangerous and explosive offensive weapon. Last year, his season was cut short due to a leg injury in early October. That injury has carried over into the offseason, and Boutte is still working his way back into the LSU offense.

New LSU head coach Brian Kelly has seen a lot of growth in Boutte in their limited time working together. Kelly has focused on keeping Boutte engaged, even if he isn’t able to fully participate on the field quite yet. When discussing Boutte, Kelly said that the talented wideout is now doing “the little things” that will put him in a position for success later on.

“I was proud of him, I really was,” Kelly said of Boutte. “Because some would take it the other way and say I’m not going to do this. But by the end of the spring, he was coaching our younger players. He was doing the little things the right way. He’s been in the training room, he wasn’t earlier. All I know is that he’s doing the little things necessary for himself and our team that’s going to put him in a good position later.”

Boutte caught 45 passes for 735 yards and five touchdowns as a freshman at LSU in 2020, averaging 16.3 yards per reception. In six games last season, he had 38 receptions for 509 yards and nine touchdowns, averaging 13.4 yards per catch.

Boutte should be a focal point of the LSU offense

Coming to LSU, Boutte was a very highly coveted player in the 2020 class. He was rated as a five-star recruit and the No. 3 wide receiver in the class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Some believed that Boutte might enter the transfer portal during the offseason, but he ultimately decided to stick it out, saying that he is “locked in” with LSU. Kelly believes that Boutte is a major breakout candidate for the Tigers, and he figures to be a major part of the offense in Kelly’s first year as the team’s head coach.

The potential is clearly there with Boutte, and he has flashed that in his collegiate career already. With a strong year in 2022, he could play himself into becoming a clear-cut first-round NFL Draft pick. In ESPN’s Todd McShay’s latest 2023 mock draft, Boutte was selected with the No. 21 overall pick.