The Panthers are adding a former second-round pick to their receiver stable. The Jaguars are sending Laviska Shenault to the NFC South squad, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Jaguars will receive a 2023 seventh-round pick and a 2024 sixth-round pick, per Joe Person of The Athletic (on Twitter).
Shenault, whom the Jags took in the 2020 second round, has shown flashes in Jacksonville, doing so as the team keeps changing its offense. He will have another chance to make an impression in Carolina. The Panthers have been looking for more receiving help, despite rostering D.J. Moore, Robbie Anderson and 2021 second-round pick Terrace Marshall. Two seasons remain on Shenault’s rookie deal.
Carolina had been connected to disgruntled Jets wideout Denzel Mims, who was also a 2020 second-round pick. Mims’ Matt Rhule past seemingly made him a logical Panthers fit, but Carolina is pivoting in a different direction.
Once viewed as a possible first-rounder, Shenault — chosen 42nd overall two years ago — battled injuries at Colorado but still attracted the Jags’ attention during their final Dave Caldwell–Doug Marrone draft. The team has since changed offensive schemes twice since that draft, adding to the degree of difficulty for the young wideout. Add a fourth scheme in three years for Shenault, who will transition to Ben McAdoo‘s offense. This Panthers offense should not be entirely unfamiliar for Shenault; McAdoo was Jacksonville’s quarterbacks coach in 2020.
Still, Shenault has topped 600 receiving yards in each of his two Jags seasons and has been used sparingly in the backfield. The 227-pound receiver’s top two yardage outputs have come against the Bengals — in 2020 and ’21, the latter a 99-yard night in a narrow loss that became more relevant because of Urban Meyer‘s postgame decisions — but he operated as an auxiliary option for Gardner Minshew and Trevor Lawrence. The Jags, however, added multiple receivers this offseason. They gave Christian Kirk an $18MM-per-year deal and added Zay Jones for $8MM per soon after. The team still rosters veteran Marvin Jones as well.
Marshall has missed time due to a training camp injury, though he did play in Carolina’s preseason finale. The Panthers have moved on from OC Joe Brady, who coached Marshall at LSU, and the ex-Justin Jefferson/Ja’Marr Chase supporting caster struggled as a rookie. Carolina also has ex-Baker Mayfield Cleveland target Rashard Higgins and Shi Smith at receiver. Shenault’s arrival further complicates matters for Marshall, but it will give Mayfield another intriguing option.
Find someone who looks at you the way the Panthers look at other teams’ disappointing draft picks.
That’s the secret of life.
I’d hardly call him disappointing.
Dude hasn’t had QB/coaching stability in his career.
Jags are a mess. He’s put up decent numbers given all he’s had to deal with from that organization
Surprised Green Bay didn’t jump in on him. Or KC.
GB has seven WRs better than this guy. Yes…seven. Don’t let the media narrative fool you.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d take a flyer on Shenault, but the Panthers have traded for an amazing number of guys other teams were dumping before their rookie deals were up in the last couple years.
Yeah. It sucks for him cause he’s going from one bad situation to another lmao.
Panthers have no clue what theyre doing with Moore Anderson Higgins Marshall Jr etc and now Shenault.
Like I said. Really surprised a KC, Chargers, Browns, Vikings didn’t jump in on him as a #2/#3 option.
Esp Browns with Cooper Peoples-Jones Bell.
there’s no way he’d be a #2 on any of those teams
besides browns, but they’re rebuilding this season
KC he’d push as a #2 WR behind JuJu. Possibly #1 if JuJu doesn’t stay healthy.
Chargers #3 WR behind Allen and Williams ahead of Palmer.
Vikings #2/#3 WR depending if Thielen can stay healthy. Last 3 years he’s missed 11 games.
Browns #2 WR behind Cooper.
The Chargers seem to like Palmer. Doubt KC prefers him to MVS or Moore. Vikings seem to like Osborn. Again, I would take a flyer on Shenault, but no surprise competitive teams late in the offseason aren’t thirsty for a guy two straight Jaguars coaches haven’t been enthralled with.
Don’t see how he’d be nearly a favorite to crack the top three for KC, the Chargers, or Vikings.
he wouldn’t..
he couldn’t even crack the jaguars top 3
Shenault is much more similar to, say, Deebo Samuel than he is to a traditional receiver. If you have an offense that relies on RAC receivers, Shenault will be a good addition. He’s a good runner in space, but not exactly a great route runner or a jump ball sort of guy.
Teams with mobile quarterbacks or teams that like to throw underneath might like a player like Shenault. It remains to be seen what Carolina’s new offense will look like (I don’t necessarily have a huge amount of faith that Ben McAdoo will the savior that turns it around, but Mayfield should bring something positive to build around), but it may find some use for Shenault’s skill-set.
you don’t think the Jaguars threw underneath last year?
this guy is as much of a threat underneath , as Laquon Treadwell is as a deep threat.
Name one other WR similar to Deebo in the past 10 years .. dudes a freak , and shouldn’t be compared to guys who just got traded to spare the cut
It’s not a direct comparison talent-wise. It’s a comparison skillset-wise. Obviously Deebo is a much better player. He and Shenault do have similar skillsets, even if there is a large gap in how much skill they actually have.
I gave up trying to figure out Jaguar transactions long before the Urban Meyer era. I guess when you pay Kirk and Jones that much, it’s a bad look to have any other possibly promising young receivers threaten their playing time.
I thought a Shenault for Amari Rodgers swap with Green Bay might make sense. Laviska has a similar skill set to Deebo if developed and a schemed correctly