LSU wide receiver Kayshon Boutte was projected to be one of the most successful players in college football in 2022, but has instead not reached the levels of production he was expected to ahed of the season.

So far, he has amassed 11 receptions for 97 yards without a single touchdown. By now, Boutte was expected to have ascended to somewhere around the No. 1 receiver prospect in the upcoming draft but instead has fallen off the radar more to this point in the season.

LSU head coach Brian Kelly addressed Boutte’s status in a recent meeting with the media.

“Part of this is building trust with a new quarterback,” Kelly said of Boutte’s slow start. “Obviously we’re trying to get him the football, he’s getting a lot of double coverage. We’re still winning, he’s happy that we’re winning. Look, all those guys that make decisions about who the best receivers are in the country are still going to look at Kayson and go, ‘That’s a really, really good wide receiver.'”

He has stressed the fact that the stat sheet doesn’t necessarily reflect

“Numbers are numbers. At the end of the day, he’s going to continue to play this game at the next level and the numbers won’t dictate where he gets drafted. It’s his ability to continue to play the game at the highest of levels and when you turn on the film and he’s running full speed and he’s beating guys, and the ball didn’t come to him for whatever reason, that’s out of his control. So what Kayshon continues to do better each and every week is he controls what he can control and he does that in practice now and he does that in games. He was happy we won the football game. Would he like the ball more? Absolutely. Would I like to get it to him more? Absolutely. But he’s handled himself in the right way and he continues to work for the team.””

It will be interesting to watch how things continue to play out for Boutte as he and the Tigers face the Tennessee Volunteers up next on the schedule at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday.