LSU Football: Tigers WR gets slighted by national media outlet

LSU football wide receiver Kayshon Boutte is receiving quite a bit of hype entering the 2021 season.

And for good reason.

The sophomore wide receiver finished the 2020 season with a bang, catching 14 passes for 308 yards and three touchdowns in the Tigers’ season finale against Ole Miss.

Boutte was rated as the No. 2 wide receiver in the nation in the 2020 recruiting class. Catching 14 passes for 308 yards in one game proves he was appropriately rated.

And it also shows us that Boutte should be viewed among the top wide receivers in the nation in 2021.

The Athletic doesn’t think Kayshon Boutte is a preseason All-American

The Athletic revealed their preseason All-American teams on Monday and Boutte was not listed on the first team or the second team.

Instead of Boutte, The Athletic went with Ohio State WR Chris Olave and USC WR Drake London on the first team. Ohio State WR Garrett Wilson and Penn State WR Jahan Dotson made the second team.

Let’s compare some stats.

Here are how each of those wide receivers fared in 2020:

• Chris Olave — 50 receptions, 729 yards, and 7 touchdowns (seven games)
• Garrett Wilson — 43 receptions, 723 yards, and 6 touchdowns (eight games)
• Jahan Dotson — 52 receptions, 884 yards, and 8 touchdowns (nine games)
• Drake London — 33 receptions, 502 yards, and three touchdowns (six games)

Boutte finished his true freshman season with 45 receptions for 735 yards and five touchdowns. Those numbers put him right there in the mix with those other four wide receivers.

Now, Boutte played in more games than the four wide receivers who made The Athletic’s All-American teams.

But it’s important to remember that Boutte wasn’t a major factor in the Tigers’ offense early in the season. With Terrace Marshall and Arik Gilbert on the roster, it meant Boutte was the third option — at best — in the passing game. It wasn’t until late in the season that Boutte became a focal point in the offense.

The Louisiana native did some of his best work against some really good teams. Boutte caught eight passes for 111 yards against Alabama and he caught 5 passes for 108 yards against Florida.

In fact, if you take Boutte’s stats from the final three games of the season and extrapolate them over an eight-game season, he’d finish with 72 receptions for 1,405 yards. Over a full 15 game season, he’d finish with 135 receptions for 2,634 yards.

Those are mind-blowing numbers.

It’s obviously unlikely Boutte would keep up with that pace, but that shows you what kind of damage he’s capable of doing.

I think it also shows us that he should’ve easily been on one of The Athletic’s All-American teams.

I have a feeling he’ll make an appearance after the end of the season, though.

And that’s what really matters.