Kayshon Boutte's struggles revealed by Todd McShay

Kayshon Boutte spent most of last season on the sidelines, dealing with injuries. With the LSU wide receiver returning to action under head coach Brian Kelly, excitement was building over the potential numbers he could put up. But seven games into the season, Boutte has not lived up to the high expectations.

ESPN NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay revealed why Boutte has been struggling this year. Before the season opener, McShay says Boutte was a top 10 prospect on his entire board. However, with Kelly being the head coach now, McShay doesn’t think the wide receiver is “involved as much” in the offense as he needs to be.

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“I had him as a top 10 prospect coming into the year. He was in the Biletnikoff conversation through six games last year before he had the season-ending ankle injury. Comes back this year, there’s conversations from Brian Kelly, the LSU head coach, saying he wasn’t really involved as much as he needed to be.

“Conversations and quotes in the public from Boutte saying he thought about transferring back in August to Alabama. You can see frustration on the field and the production has been nowhere near what it was a year ago. In the same six games, 15 fewer catches and eight fewer touchdowns on the season.”

The rumors of entering the transfer portal are something Boutte addressed in August, saying he did think about it. He would have been the second LSU player to travel out east to Tuscaloosa, joining cornerback Eli Ricks. Instead, Jermaine Burton out of Georgia was the wide receiver take for Alabama out of the portal.

Boutte decided to stick it out with LSU, sticking to his original commitment coming out of high school. He got involved on Saturday afternoon against Ole Miss, having 43 yards on four receptions. Kayshon Boutte now has 27 catches for 288 yards and just one touchdown in total throughout the season.

McShay released his latest big board at the beginning of October, still having Boutte high up there. The LSU receiver was No. 16 overall and the No. 2 receiver. Ohio State‘s Jaxon Smith-Njigba was just a spot behind Boutte but he has been injured for most of the season.

Boutte will have more time to prove himself to NFL scouts while at LSU. A big win against Ole Miss keeps the Tigers in the race for the SEC West.