I loved the Boutte pick in 2023 as a post-hype sleeper. Exactly the kind of flyer a team should be taking late in the draft. He did barely anything as a rookie but looked much better another year removed from the ankle injury that slowed him down at LSU.
That being said, he still didn’t do enough that I would classify him as a lock. He flashed at times but wasn’t consistent. This was still the worst WR room in the NFL last year, and no one was saying “well good thing they have Boutte because yikes at the rest of that group”. No he was lumped in with them and rightfully so. It’s a little challenging to judge the performance given how much of a trainwreck the entire Patriots operation was last year, top to bottom. But his numbers weren’t that impressive. They were an encouraging improvement for a guy who many (myself included) were doubting would even make the team before the 2024 preseason, but still nothing remarkable for a starter.
15 games, 43 rec, 589 yards, 3 TD
Boutte did practically nothing on the two games he didn’t start in (2 catches for 13 yards and no TD on 3 targets) so we’ll toss those out. On the other end of the spectrum, let’s toss out his Week 18 performance against Buffalo (7-117-1 on 7 targets) because as nice as that looks on paper, that stat line was misleading because the Bills third stringers on defense were inviting the Pats to score on them all game. Buffalo’s seeding was secure and they had nothing to gain from winning and everything to gain from losing and preventing their division rival from picking 1st overall. His 5-95-1 in Buffalo two weeks prior was much more impressive, and we’re counting that one.
So subtracting those two games of Boutte as a bit player and that one glorified preseason game at the end, you’re left with 12 starts and a 34-459-2 line on 58 targets. If you average that out to a full 17 games, you get 48-650-3. That would’ve put him 48th among all NFL WRs last season in total yards. Interestingly enough that was still better than what he finished with (589 yards, 56th among WRs). That puts him in company with other decent but ultimately complementary WRs across the league. Doesn’t move the needle.
Boutte should be considered one of the favorites to make the team but he is by no means a lock, especially if he doesn’t impress this offseason. Vrabel might favor a more veteran presence at the top of the depth chart (Diggs, Bourne, Hollins) and then that leaves 3 spots between the youngsters Boutte, Douglas, Polk, Baker, and whatever rookie(s) they add. Going to be interesting to see where they all fit in McDaniels’ new look offense.