Kayshon Boutte a first-rounder in recent ESPN 2023 mock draft
LSU receiver Kayshon Boutte should be one of college football’s top pass-catchers in 2022.
He was on pace for what would have been a truly prolific season despite the Tigers’ struggles as a whole last fall, but an injury ended his season after six games. Still, he led the way for the team with nine touchdowns, meaning he averaged 1.5 per game.
If he can stay healthy this time around, he should have no problem being one of the best receivers in the SEC at the very least.
He’s also seen as a likely first-round pick and one of the best wideouts available in the 2023 NFL draft. The latest ESPN mock from Matt Miller shows him going with the 18th pick to the New England Patriots, pairing him up with Mac Jones.
Let’s get quarterback Mac Jones some help in New England. Boutte had 38 catches last season, but coach Brian Kelly should usher in a more pro-style offense for the Tigers, in turn boosting Boutte’s numbers. At 6-foot, 190 pounds, his size and speed remind me some of Philadelphia’s DeVonta Smith, who was the No. 10 pick in 2021. Boutte needs the on-field production to propel himself up draft boards in the same way Smith did when he won the Heisman Trophy in 2020.
Miller has Boutte as the third receiver off the board after Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba and USC’s Jordan Addison. Both of those guys are certainly more proven than Boutte, and like Miller says, it may take some pretty unreal production to jump them in the draft pecking order.
Still, Boutte enters the year with high expectations, and if he lives up to them, he’ll find himself as one of the top picks in next spring’s draft.
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Looking at LSU's potential 2023 draft prospects
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