Doug Marrone Reviews Jaguars' Laviska Shenault's NFL Debut
Even with the Jacksonville Jaguars having their largest draft class in franchise history with 12 picks in 2020, the excitement over one specific player has been evident even more so than the others.
That player? Second-round (No. 42 overall) receiver Laviska Shenault, who shined during his NFL debut, justifying all of the excitement and hype over his exciting skill set -- at least for now.
In Jacksonville's 27-20 Week 1 win over the Indianapolis Colts Shenault caught three passes for 37 yards (12.3 average) and one touchdown, while also carrying the ball twice for 10 yards. And while these numbers don't pop out, it needs to be understood that the Jaguars gained just 264 yards on Sunday, with over 17% of those yards coming from Shenault.
He lined up on the outside, in the slot, in the backfield in shotgun formations, in the backfield as a true running back with Gardner Minshew under center and, of course, as a wildcat quarterback.
Shenault did it all for the Jaguars on Sunday, just as they have said since April they envisioned he would do. And to head coach Doug Marrone, Shenault simply did what the Jaguars had seen all the way up until Week 1. As Marrone put it when talking about fellow rookie James Robinson, Shenault didn't "poop the bed".
"I mean, just kind of everything that we’ve seen in practice," Marrone said following Sunday's game when asked what he saw from his rookie wideout.
"I don’t think—unless like what I said before in my one statement ‘poop the bed’, just totally freeze—which does happen, I mean, I’m not going to say it doesn’t. Trying to get him the touches, getting him touches in the backfield, you can see how strong of a runner he is."
Shenault lined up as a running back twice and as a wildcat quarterback once, showing the type of versatility he allows offensive coordinator Jay Gruden to work with. He was also key to each of Jacksonville's three touchdowns, with Gruden using him as a motion player to catch the Colts' defense flat-footed, allowing DJ Chark and Keelan Cole to come open for their touchdown catches.
Aside from opening things up for his fellow receivers to make plays, Shenault was able to find the endzone himself thanks to his ability to pick up yards after the catch. Due to his blend of size, power and speed, Shenault's after-catch ability is his calling card, and he made a point to display it during his 15-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
"But the one thing I knew, when he got the underneath crossing route caught, he’s such a physical guy, a big strong receiver that I really felt like, ‘Hey listen, it’s going to be hard to tackle this guy,’ going into the season because we haven’t done any live tackling in that situation," Marrone said.
Marrone also pointed out that Shenault's biggest play of the day in terms of yardage, an 18-yard catch on a wheel route, showed off what the rookie brings to the table.
"I think he made a really good play on the sideline with the big gain, that was a tough catch," Marrone said. "He turned his body around, caught the ball, so it’s good. I think he’s a guy that can do a lot of different things."
It wasn't all perfect for Shenault on Sunday, of course. He had a drop across the middle of the field, which ended up being the only incomplete pass Minshew threw all game. But the good far outweighed the bad, and Shenault's NFL debut should give the Jaguars confidence moving forward.
