Should LSU football fans begin to worry about Kayshon Boutte?

LSU football generated a lot of buzz this offseason because of the talented players within the program. Nobody had high hopes for the Tigers this upcoming season, especially not in the national media. It was largely seen as a rebuilding year. Brian Kelly and his staff took over a trainwreck of a program, there was no way they were going to turn it around instantly.

Regardless, Baton Rouge is home to some of the most highly rated skill players in the country. This is something that remains constant with the Bayou Bengals, regardless of record. While LSU has gone to surprise a few people with its 2-1 start to the season, certain individuals have failed to live up to the hype. One of the Biletnikoff Award preseason favorites, Kayshon Boutte, is one such player to suit up for the purple and gold this year.

Should LSU football fans begin to worry about Kayshon Boutte?

Boutte has been touted as one of the best NFL-ready prospects in the entire country over the last year. He’s put on some truly breathtaking performances; most notable of all was his 308-yard and three touchdown receiving performance against Ole Miss back in December 2020.

However, Boutte’s been a letdown this season. He’s failed to record 100 receiving yards through three games, only tallying 93 yards on 10 receptions. Boutte did have a 41-yard rush against Southern though. Even then, 134 all-purpose yards used to be achievable for the junior in one game—let alone three. Here are his stats from each game this season:

• vs. Florida State: two receptions for 20 yards
• vs. Southern: five receptions for 42 yards; one rush for 41 yards
• vs. Mississippi State: three receptions for 31 yards

The Tigers haven’t found a way to get their best playmaker the ball just yet. This prompts the question: should fans be worried about Boutte’s performances thus far?

The short answer is no. Boutte is still capable of performing to the highest level with the ball in his hands. The problem LSU is having early on is getting him the rock. Quarterback Jayden Daniels still has to make a plethora of adjustments in the passing game. If Daniels can become a more accurate passer in Offensive Coordinator Mike Denbrock’s offense, the Tigers will be just fine with the receiving weapons available to them.

But the aforementioned tweaks are going to take some time. LSU will need to familiarize itself with a new offensive line, Denbrock will need to continue to push the rushing attack and Daniels will need to work on spreading the ball out to his wide receivers. The struggles aren’t solely Boutte’s through three games, it’d be a different story if he was the only wideout underperforming. It seems silly then to worry about his performances alone.

It’s become evident though that former quarterback Max Johnson‘s favorite target is no longer Daniels’. Daniels made that obvious for the world to see against the Bulldogs when he targeted Malik Nabers continuously when LSU needed a big play the most. Again, that’s no reason to necessarily worry. Boutte will slowly become more involved in an offense that’s got a lot of room for growth as the season progresses.