FOXBOROUGH - Kayshon Boutte has established himself as a legitimate deep threat.
No receiver in the league with five or more deep targets has a better catch percentage than Boutte (85.7), who leads the team with five touchdown catches.
On Thursday, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was asked what makes Boutte so good connecting with Drake Maye on the deep throws, and why he’s been so effective.
“There’s a number of things.,” McDaniels began. “No. 1, he runs hard on every play. And I think when you watch a guy in practice run like that, and then accelerate down the field, his long speed has shown up over and over since the spring, just the ability to eventually get past the defense, or to at least get even with them, and have an opportunity to make a play down the field.”
Boutte was clocked at 4.5 during the 2023 NFL Combine, which isn’t particularly fast. But he was just coming off an ankle injury at the time. In high school, he registered an unofficial time of 4.37 seconds. So his wheels are good enough.
And McDaniels didn’t stop at long speed. He provided more details.
“I think he’s strong. He has a physical nature to his play where if the ball is a contested situations, the quarterbacks feels confident that they’re giving the guy an opportunity who’s going to go up and get it,” McDaniels said. “And then, I think he tracks the ball very well.”
McDaniels said most people assume all receivers can track the ball the same, but that’s hardly the case. Some do it better than others.
“He certainly has had an opportunity to make some catches where the ball is going in a different direction, a different angle, and to run full speed with a defender near you, look back for the ball, have to adjust to it, and then have strong enough hands to complete the play,” McDaniels said. “I think that speaks to why he’s been so successful.”
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