Boise State roster countdown 2019: Day 81, Akilian Butler

81 days remaining. Anyone remember St. Patrick’s Day? I sure do. Because I basically eat nothing but corned beef for a solid week every year, and it’s magical. It also doesn’t seem like it was too long ago. Which is great because that week was only about 81 days ago. WE’RE GETTING CLOSER EVERY DAY! And, on that note...

#81, Akilian Butler, RS Senior, WR

Stats

Height: 5’ 10”

Weight: 187 lbs

High School: West Mesquite High School, Dallas, Texas

How’d he get to The Blue^TM?

Mr. Butler came to Boise State by way of the well of talent in West Mesquite that the Bronco coaching staff seemed to draw from quite frequently for awhile. In his senior year, he helped guide West Mesquite High to a 9-3 record and the second round of the Texas 5A Division I Playoffs with 48 catches that accounted for 686 yards and 12 touchdowns. For his efforts he was awarded his third, consecutive 10-4A All-District accolade.

Nickname

“AK-81”

This wide receiver group has a lot of firepower. Akilian is definitely part of that.

Look-alike

He still looks like Carl Weathers to me. Although, I should clarify that it makes a lot more sense when making the comparison to “Rocky” or “Predator” Carl Weathers and not so much the “Arrested Development” iteration.

Career highlights

AK-81 saw the field right away as a true freshman and was granted a medical redshirt year to replace the season he lost in 2017 with a torn ACL, two games into the season. His recovery from that ordeal is a highlight in itself but, to his profound credit, he not only made it back to the field but was productive on it. Akilian accounted for 204 yards and 2 TDs in 2018. Aside from his contributions on the field, Akilian is one of the better interviews from my three seasons covering Boise State. Just a humble, affable, hard-working dude.

2019 Prospectus

Much has been made and will continue to be about how absolutely stacked the wide receiver position is going into 2019. The lack of experience for whoever ends up throwing the football is going to be mitigated by the return of the whole offensive line and the best talent Boise State has had at wide receiver since Young and Pettis were building NFL resumes on The Blue. Possibly even better, when all is said and done, just from the sheer volume of incredibly talented options. While there are at least three players in the group that seem likely to rack up more stats than Akilian, I’m going to go ahead and not count him out. Bad injury luck aside, the man is still a very gifted athlete that’s shown an ability to overcome odds. I expect the wide receiver group to have a memorable season but, within that, I expect Akilian to be a sleeper that wakes up.

Is he on Twitter?

Confirmed.

Completely made up fact

Despite being a native of Texas, Akilian has not attended the annual music festival known as “Austin City Limits” since 2017. Those with a talent for identifying acronyms might be able to discern why there might be an (understandable) aversion...