The Jacksonville Jaguars had a productive offseason, but questions remain about their receivers group. They paid Christian Kirk and Zay Jones like starters in free agency and will need both to play like it, though neither has registered 1,000 yards in a single season.
However, neither free-agent addition is alone when it comes to fans hoping they will step up. Third-year receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. is also a player the Jags need to step up as he will be coming off a 2021 season where he didn’t make the impact fans were hoping for. Shenault seems well aware of this and came into organized team activities looking to improve and his quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, has already taken note of it.
Lawrence recently told the media that Shenault looks faster by his eyes and expressed his confidence in him to be a playmaker for the offense.
“He looks a lot faster,” Lawrence said to the Florida Times-Union about Shenault. “He’s just going to be that guy when you get the ball in his hands, he’s going to make the play. I think he’s made a big improvement since last season and he’s really been attacking it. I think it’s showing on the practice field.”
It seems Shenault had plans to get faster in mind all along this offseason as he told News4Jax he wanted to be more than a big strong target for the offense. Shenault says he cut down his weight lifting routine a bit and replaced it with agility exercises.
“This year I have been working on a lot of my agility and my first-step quickness. I’m a big guy. I love to lift,” Shenault said. “So, I wanted to cut that down this offseason and get moving because I feel like I lost a little bit of that going through my surgeries during the Covid year. I’m not making any excuses it is part of life.”
With the additions of Kirk and Jones, things are a little more crowded at the top of the receivers depth chart. Both players and Marvin Jones could be the starting split end, flanker, and slot receivers, which means Shenault will have to battle to earn the same depth chart spot he had last season. That’s already showing as he’s now picked up returner duties (at least in OTAs) to increase his value for the roster.
Fans will get to see the new and improved Shenault in camp next month. And when considering his competitive nature and diverse skill set, they could be in for an impressive showing from the young receiver.
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