Patriots Player Departure Patriots are sending WR Kayshon Boutte to the Texans for safety Jaylen Reed and a draft pick

[lancerman]

Boutte was tied for 125th in receptions, 72nd in yards, and was tied for 26th in TD's with about 20 other players. His yards per average was the only thing remotely special about him and it's completely undercut by his low volume.

What did people think we were going to get for him? We had a crowded WR room and it was between him and Williams. There was a good chance he was going to get cut and someone gets him for free on waivers.

 

[Rob0729]

He would be 5th out of the gate, They'd have to have Williams as the 4th to see if he can be that guy. If Williams craps the bed then Boutte gets back in as 4th receiver, if Williams plays well Boutte stays as 5th receiver.
Let's not forget Boutte asked to be traded, he wanted to have a chance to make some money.
I forget about Mack Hollins, he had more targets than Boutte so maybe Boutte is the 6th receiver to start the year.

Yes, the WR room is too crowded. Not enough food to feed all those mouths. They had to get rid of someone. Boutte seemed like the most likely candidate.

You can argue that they got too little, but the market is the market.

 

[Ring 6]

The four games after the season opener, he had a combined 7 catches for 105 yards and 1 TD. Over four games.

He got 201 yards of his 551 yards and two of his six TDs against the Raiders and Saints. I would say they both had bad defenses at the time the Pats played them. You take away those games and he had 351 yards and 4 TDs for the rest of the season. ]

Yes, he was injured part of it and he did have some good moments in the playoffs, but nothing consistent there (although no one on offense was consistent in the playoffs).

I think my analysis is more spot on that you might want to believe.

Again, I think Boutte is a good receiver. I think people here overrate him. Some vastly overrate him.

Almost every receiver in the league has production splits like. Take away Doubs best 3 games and he is 34/449/2 in 13 games

 

[DaBruinz]

Agreed - way too soon to say he's a JAG. We saw some decent flashes from him last season. He has more upside than Bourne IMO

Williams YAC is close to 8 yards. Boutte's YAC has been under 2 which demonstrates an inability to get good separation.

Or it shows that Boutte was clutch with contested catches. As shown by his 71.2% Reception Percentage. Whereas Williams has a brutal 42.9% Reception percentage.

Williams is a work in progress. Boutte had shown he could beat the top corners in the league and make clutch plays.

YAC isn't necessarily indicative of an inability to get good separation. There are so many potential reasons for a low YAC. Such as catches along the sidelines or corners of the endzone or just over the 1st down marker.

27 of Boutte's 33 catches went for first downs. 81.8%. That's outstanding. The problem, last year, was that Maye spent far too much time having to rely on check-downs because of the O-line. Which is why Diggs got so many targets and catches.

 

[turkeyneck]

I was ok with the Doubs move. Absolutely hate the Brown move because of the picks involved. Brown isn't Randy Moss or even Terrell Owens. He's a very good receiver, but Boutte is younger and is still developing. Boutte has also shown a penchant to be clutch and beat the top Corners consistently.

Doubs or Brown, pick one. But once you've brought one in then the other is too much. I feel like Doubs was a panic acquisition. They really had their hearts set on Brown but weren't sure they could get him so they got Doubs just in case. Then, instead of settling for that plus their young guys, they decided they couldn't do without scratching the Brown itch anyway. It's seems more a collector's mentality (obsession?) rather than a team constructing approach.

 

[Kdo5]

Pretty much everything. Check the film..

That’s no answer. We’ve watched Boutte play each week. None of us have routinely watched Doubs. If he’s better at something tell us; not just “watch the YouTube highlights”.

 

[Ring 6]

Boutte was tied for 125th in receptions, 72nd in yards, and was tied for 26th in TD's with about 20 other players. His yards per average was the only thing remotely special about him and it's completely undercut by his low volume.

What did people think we were going to get for him? We had a crowded WR room and it was between him and Williams. There was a good chance he was going to get cut and someone gets him for free on waivers.

He caught 72% of his targets in an average depth of throw of 17.6. Those are INSANE numbers.
Having that threat drawing coverage with Brown and Doubs getting extra targets is his you build a damn passing game. Instead we have nice guy Hollins who can get a target now and then as an “afterthought”

 

[Rob0729]

Almost every receiver in the league has production splits like. Take away Doubs best 3 games and he is 34/449/2 in 13 games

Jordan Love isn't Drake Maye. Love had more than a thousand yards less than Maye. Had a significantly lower yards per attempt than Maye. Had eight less TDs than Maye. And the Packers' offense is very different than the Patriots' offense. And Love was injured for part of the year last year.

But you are also discounting all the games after Boutte got injured as if he has an excuse for all those games even though it is almost half a season.

 

[DaBruinz]

201 of those yards and two of the TDs came in two games (Raiders and Saints). So over the other six, he had 231 yards and 3 TDs. That is 38.5 yards and 0.5 TDs a game as a #2 WR. Not that all impressive.

It's impressive when you consider that the O-line was still pretty horrid last year forcing Drake to throw under pressure so much.
You can't go to a deeper receiver if you're under pressure. Which Drake was.

People are forgetting that teams were stacking the Box most of the year and getting pressure on Maye. In fact, If I remember correctly, the Pats saw the most 8-man boxes of any team last year. That sort of pressure affects the running game and passing game. Especially when May took so many sacks, hits and pressures.

 

[Uptown]

That’s no answer. We’ve watched Boutte play each week. None of us have routinely watched Doubs. If he’s better at something tell us; not just “watch the YouTube highlights”.

Pretty much everything. Check the film..Those who are doubting Doubs have either barely watched him play, or simply haven’t watched him play. That what the consensus seems like..because pretty much everyone (including GMs, other players, coaches, film junkies, some on this forum etc..) who’s familiar with both of their respective skillsets know Doubs is clearly a better receiver. It may be on a Moss-Edelman type scale, but it’s clear.

Where did I say “YouTube highlights”?? Everyone looks good on a highlight right?? I said check the film. I’ve already discussed Doubs on several occasions because many folks aren’t familiar with him. Speak for yourself, if you aren’t. I’m asking you what specifically does Boutte do better than Doubs at the position. He’s not a better route runner, not better out of breaks/top of the route, not more crafty in the RZ, not better off the LOS, he’s smaller/slower. He is clutch though. We all know that. Again, I love Boutte as a player; especially pre-injury Boutte. I’m not knocking as a player; simply being objective about what I see on film. So, again, I ask you..what is Boutte better at????…



Clock is ticking, bruh..

 

[n1997y]

Reed was a 6th round pick. Right about where I said the compensation would be. The Texans have to pay Boutte if they want to keep him. I’d have preferred the pick but if Reed becomes a player it’s a solid deal.

Edit: just saw the added 7th pick in 2028. Good trade.

Looks like Reed is already a player. People are not looking past his sixth round draft status.

As a rookie last year he started on PUP, was activated to the roster in late October and played in seven games, starting one, before going on IR. Was brought back from IR and started both playoff games.

His line against Buffalo: 12 tackles, 9 of them solo, plus a fumble recovered. If he does that well against the Bills for us I’ll be happy.

 

[n1997y]

I thought Saunders was having a really good camp.

Woodson just got hurt.

Agree about Saunders.

Is Pettus now on the bubble?

 

[Uptown]

 

[Kdo5]

Where did I say “YouTube highlights”?? Everyone looks good on a highlight right?? I said check the film. I’ve already discussed Doubs on several occasions because many folks aren’t familiar with him. Speak for yourself, if you aren’t. I’m asking you what specifically does Boutte do better than Doubs at the position. He’s not a better route runner, not better out of breaks/top of the route, not more crafty in the RZ, not better off the LOS, he’s smaller/slower. He is clutch though. We all know that. So, again, I ask you..what is Boutte better at????…



Clock is ticking, bruh..

I didn’t watch with the Packers. I know what Boutte is and that he is constantly improving. That’s why I was asking. You didn’t say anything in your original post that I quoted. You just said “watch the film”.

Thereafter you made an edit.

 

[BennyBledsoe]

.....we have no idea what the floor is between Maye and Doubs or even Maye and Brown.

I'm not sure how much more obvious it can be that receivers have to have chemistry with their quarterback to get to their potential.

 

[n1997y]

He’s a 6th rounder. But the better context to add would be how he’s looked since showing up in Houston.

Had 12 tackles against Buffalo. PFF had him graded favorably and he took 55 snaps in that game.

And started both of Houston’s playoff games

 

[TheRainMaker]

Media during training camp: "This WR group is so deep. Can't keep them all"

During the regular season: "Nobody can separate.....(insert name here) can't pick up the offense. They need help here".

 

[Rob0729]

Doubs or Brown, pick one. But once you've brought one in then the other is too much. I feel like Doubs was a panic acquisition. They really had their hearts set on Brown but weren't sure they could get him so they got Doubs just in case. Then, instead of settling for that plus their young guys, they decided they couldn't do without scratching the Brown itch anyway. It's seems more a collector's mentality (obsession?) rather than a team constructing approach.

I disagree. I think Doubs would have been signed even if they traded for Brown the first day of free agency. The Pats always had Stefon Diggs in their back pocket if Brown didn't get traded. But I think the Pats knew that Brown was most likely going to get traded to them from day one.

And Doubs got good, not great WR #2 money. He is making less per year than Michael Pittman who was traded and given an extension around the time the Pats signed Doubs. He is getting the 31st most money per annual average out of all WRs. That doesn't look like a panic signing.

Doubs is a better receiver than Boutte and he has been pretty much proving it in practices from most of the reports I have seen.

Wolf and Vrabel are not Belichick and Maye isn't Brady. The current regime wants to have receivers for their starting QB and not wanting to rely on the QB to elevate talent. They feel that they upgraded both starting WR positions. Time will tell if they are right.

 

[ScottishPatriots]

A big nothing burger, Boutte was just a guy he was made by the quarterback taking a massive leap and has been upgraded.

He will be the same 500-600 yard guy in Houston if they’re lucky, the coaches and the NFL in general didn’t think he was worth next to anything any team could have had him for basically nothing and still didn’t take him.

 

[Rob0729]

It's impressive when you consider that the O-line was still pretty horrid last year forcing Drake to throw under pressure so much.
You can't go to a deeper receiver if you're under pressure. Which Drake was.

People are forgetting that teams were stacking the Box most of the year and getting pressure on Maye. In fact, If I remember correctly, the Pats saw the most 8-man boxes of any team last year. That sort of pressure affects the running game and passing game. Especially when May took so many sacks, hits and pressures.

Not really when you consider he had one yard more than Mack Hollins who spent part of the season on IR.

He was good, not great. I don't think he is anything special.