Laviska Shenault - 2020 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Laviska Shenault is a guy who entered the season with a lot of hype as possibly the top receiver who would be in the 2020 draft. Unfortunately, he struggled with some nagging injuries and his production diminished from his 2018 season. But until a poor combine performance, most people still had him as a late first-round pick. Now, he seems firmly implanted in day two, so I wanted to take a look at him to see if he would make sense for the Chicago Bears. I took a look at his game against Oregon to get a better idea of how he stacked up as a receiver.

Here is how that combine performance stacked up.

The only speed drill he did was the 40 where he managed a very pedestrian 4.58. After the combine, he did get surgery to repair a core muscle issue that he was having. That likely altered his training quite a bit. I still don’t think Shenault is a speed demon, but as you can see from that size, he has the build to power through defenders.

On this first play, Shenault shows good awareness by finding a hole in the zone and settling in for an easy throw for his quarterback.

He has space, but he still attacks the ball with his hands, catching it away from his body, and then he turns up field and puts his shoulder down to plow into the defenders and pick up an extra four yards after contact.

Power is the name of Shenault's game as he shows insane physicality for a receiver.

Again, he attacks the ball in traffic to make the catch, and despite getting hit while facing backwards, he still manages a churn and turn where he churns his legs and turns his body to pickup three yards despite having zero leverage at the contact point.

Sometimes you don’t need to make the catch to make a big play.

Here, he gains deep leverage on the cornerback, and the quarterback badly underthrows the football. Still, Shenault is able to adjust his body and speed to put himself in position to make the catch, and the defender interferes out of desperation and Shenault draws the flag.

This is one of those plays where I’m bummed that I couldn’t see a replay, because this Shenault created some incredible distance between himself and a defender.

This was in man coverage, and Shenault must have shook his defender bad, because he had five yards of space, and then follows it up by nearly breaking the defender’s ankles after the catch. That’s good shit.

Again, Shenault gains major distance from his defender.

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If the quarterback throws something decent, this is a touchdown. Shenault had at least two yards of separation and possibly more as he had already started slowing down by the time the camera got on him. Instead, the quarterback throws it as poorly as possible as it is just underthrown enough for the defender to time his defense perfectly. Had it been more underthrown, he at least could have gotten pass interference.

As for the downsides, Shenault was fairly inconsistent in his blocking. His physicality is a strength so I think that’s something he can develop fairly easily. He also had a drop on a screen pass, but it wasn’t technique, he just tried to turn up field before securing the ball. Nothing to be concerned about.

I looked up the stats for the Oregon game and wasn’t sure what I could really tell as he only had four catches for 70 yards. But he also had two pass interference calls drawn which makes him responsible for 100 yards, and with NFL rules, it would have been closer to 140. If he had a decent quarterback, we’re looking at 180 and a touchdown. This was against the ninth best scoring defense in the nation. It’s pretty clear that I think Shenault is a stud, and if he’s available for the Bears in the second round, they should be doing backflips. Even though I have some issues with Nagy as a head coach, he is somebody who thinks outside the box and finds different ways to get playmakers the ball which is the ideal system for somebody with Shenault’s skill-set. I not only think he'd be the best possible pick for the Bears but might prove to be the best receiver in this class.

Previous Scouting Reports
1. Tua Tagavailoa - Alabama
2. Joe Burrow - LSU
3. Jordan Love - Utah State
4. Justin Herbert - Oregon
5. Nate Stanley - Iowa
6. Tristan Wirfs - Iowa
7. AJ Epenesa - Iowa
8. Geno Stone - Iowa
9. Michael Ojemudia - Iowa
10. Willie Gay - Mississippi State
11. KJ Hamler - Penn State
12. Amik Roberson - Louisiana Tech
13. Laviska Shenault - Colorado