Amateur Scouting Entry: Laviska Shenault

[Patriot Killa]

|Laviska Shenault|

(games watched; Oregon 2019,Nebraska 2019, Colorado State 2019, UCLA 2019)

 

Pros:

- Good hand to eye coordination and solid catch concentration. Seems natural.

- Nice shimmy moves, side steps, slippery player after the catch. Really likes the side step.

- Good short and intermediate route runner. Sharper cutting inside than outside. Seems like he finishes inside routes stronger when he drives the foot in the ground and pivots. It’s a little delayed and behind schedule at times when he pivots outside the hashes but still good just not as consistent.

- Seeing comebacks, post routes, slants, 9 routes, hitches. Good bit of combinations.

- Good field vision. They put him in the wildcat, in motion, got him in space and let him work.

- good straight line speed.

- Plays X, Z or Slot.

Cons:

- Needs to do a better job of getting in position to make a catch. Body positioning can be better. The tracking of the ball while in the air can be better.

- A little slow coming out of his breaks on the outside at times.

- Question if he’ll be bullied by press coverage or easily knocked off his route.

- Double move seems lazy at times. Will not fool NFL corners like that.

- Not much effort as a blocker. Lots of hands on the back of corners. He’d rather push lightly then firmly hold his block.

Overview:

He’s a slippery WR who can do a little of everything. I’ve seen him played in a number of ways. Wildcat, jet sweeps, screens in motion, ect. He is a pretty good route runner, does a nice job of getting separation at the point of his break and shows off nice straight line speed. Colorado exposed him to a nice majority of the route tree and that should help him for what NFL teams will ask him to do. He isn’t a dominate/aggressive wide receiver and he will not out muscle defenders for contested passes but he’s able to get into the second level of a defense quickly and be a playmaker. I think his biggest knock is that he needs to use his hands more at the line of scrimmage because NFL corners are going to knock him off his routes to try and wash him out of plays. 100% of his releases off the line are speedy double moves, shuffling of the feet, trying to get the DB off balance and that isn’t going to work nearly as much as it did in college. 

I see his value as a late 1st to 2nd round WR.

[sec101row23]

I just can’t see a scenario in which drafting this kid makes any sense for the Jets, especially at where people are slotting him. None.  

Given all the possible options at WR this year, the Jets can’t afford to take a kid like this.  There are so many better WR prospects that are more technically sound and better developed right now.

My extreme displeasure with this prospect probably ensures he ends up a Jet, and for that I apologize to you all.  

[section314]

1 hour ago, sec101row23 said:

I just can’t see a scenario in which drafting this kid makes any sense for the Jets, especially at where people are slotting him. None.  

Given all the possible options at WR this year, the Jets can’t afford to take a kid like this.  There are so many better WR prospects that are more technically sound and better developed right now.

My extreme displeasure with this prospect probably ensures he ends up a Jet, and for that I apologize to you all.  

For your sake, and probably ours as well, I hope your campaign is way more successful than mine was last year , when I begged for almost anybody but the bum we took. Looking at this guys' scouting report, his cons seem to me to basically make him a 3rd day pick, at best.

[King P]

In a draft thats so deep at WR, Shenault is the guy I want the least. Carries way to much risk.

He could be Deebo Samuel... or he could be Cordarrelle Patterson.

I'll pass

 

[Patriot Killa]

2 hours ago, sec101row23 said:

I just can’t see a scenario in which drafting this kid makes any sense for the Jets, especially at where people are slotting him. None.  

Given all the possible options at WR this year, the Jets can’t afford to take a kid like this.  There are so many better WR prospects that are more technically sound and better developed right now.

My extreme displeasure with this prospect probably ensures he ends up a Jet, and for that I apologize to you all.  

 

31 minutes ago, King P said:

In a draft thats so deep at WR, Shenault is the guy I want the least. Carries way to much risk.

He could be Deebo Samuel... or he could be Cordarrelle Patterson.

I'll pass

 

I’m with both of you guys here. 

I admittedly never seen much of him. After watching a few of his games, kicking the can on him a bit, I don’t really see much that jumps off the screen as special to me.

he’s not a bad player but he just isn’t someone I’m burning a first round pick on.

Especially in this draft 

[Paradis]

9 hours ago, Patriot Killa said:

 

I’m with both of you guys here. 

I admittedly never seen much of him. After watching a few of his games, kicking the can on him a bit, I don’t really see much that jumps off the screen as special to me.

he’s not a bad player but he just isn’t someone I’m burning a first round pick on.

Especially in this draft 

I see an athlete first, football player second.

I wouldnt give him more than a day 3 grade - guys like Shenault can sometimes struggle to find a true home in the offense... rely on manufactured touches and misdirection/gimmicky plays. 

Like i wouldn't expect him to line up as your Split End, and i don't think he's polished and twitchy enough to be your Z/flanker... Slot? I guess. 

But it comes back to what we need right now... we need a true big, tall, X to line up outside. 

[Patriot Killa]

7 minutes ago, Paradis said:

rely on manufactured touches and misdirection/gimmicky plays. 

This is his biggest flaw.^ 

Going thru that film, it looked like how the Jags deployed Dennard Robinson some years ago. Tons of “designated plays” and manufactured touches is a great term for it. He really struggles to put himself in position to make plays while the ball is still in the air and he cannot expect to gain separation in the NFL with half ass double moves and speed releases. He used his athleticism to get open on the college level instead of developing and getting use to the technical aspect of finding separation.

[Lith]

I agree with pretty much everything that has been said about Shenault.  Could be a dynamic playmaker with the ball in his hands, but the issue is how to get the ball in his hands.  I am afraid he will be a cordarrelle patterson type -- you have to manufacture touches for him.  He is not the traditional WR that we need.  I see all this buzz about him as a first round propsect, and i don't get it.  I don't see it at all.

[JoJoTownsell1]

3 hours ago, Paradis said:

I see an athlete first, football player second.

I wouldnt give him more than a day 3 grade - guys like Shenault can sometimes struggle to find a true home in the offense... rely on manufactured touches and misdirection/gimmicky plays. 

Like i wouldn't expect him to line up as your Split End, and i don't think he's polished and twitchy enough to be your Z/flanker... Slot? I guess. 

But it comes back to what we need right now... we need a true big, tall, X to line up outside. 

In a draft filled with high end talent at WR, Laviska just doesn't do it for me. I was intrigued at first but the more I saw of him the less I liked him. 

[cant wait]

Matt Waldman likes this kid a lot FWIW:

When I made my first pass through the 2020 NFL Draft class of wide receivers this summer, I wondered if Laviska Shenault might have more in common with Cordarrelle Patterson than desired. Patterson was one of the best open-field runners I’ve ever seen and when you restrict your viewing of his receiving skills to the catch-point, there appeared to be a lot of promise for Patterson to become a primary NFL receiver.

Unfortunately, Patterson hasn’t demonstrated the skill to learn the intricacies of an offense required of an every-down receiver. As was shared with me before and after his rookie year, Patterson needs a lot more practice repetitions to execute assignments than the average NFL starter.

Remember when Bill Belichick told the media that he promised Patterson in the spring of 2018 that he’d make Patterson as productive as his talent suggests? Although Belichick got production from Patterson, it wasn’t to expectation and Patterson was a Chicago Bear by 2019.

Patterson is a gadget player with elite physical traits. On the surface, Shenault’s film looks dangerously like Patterson’s—his targets consist of a high volume of short passes, running plays from the wing and the backfield, and the occasional vertical routes when the offense can match Shenault one-on-one.

A deeper look into Shenault’s game reveals a promising intermediate and vertical route runner with an above-average arsenal of footwork and hand usage against press coverage. While Shenault’s route tree is limited in Colorado’s system, his ability to sell cornerbacks with his stem work and finish off patterns with sharp breaks indicates that Shenault will become a primary option in an NFL offense within 2-3 seasons.

There are a handful of more refined wide receiver prospects in this class but you can make the argument that Shenault has the best combination of floor and upside of any of his colleagues. It’s why Shenault might not have the highest grade on my board but he might be worth taking as the top option of this heralded receiver class anyhow.
 

 

[sec101row23]