Mapping out the Bills’ perfect 2020 offseason

Here’s how the Buffalo Bills can build upon their success in the 2020 offseason.

Draft Laviska Shenault

Colorado WR Laviska Shenault (Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)

Don’t expect Buffalo to significantly improve its offense through free agency.

However, expect it to do so through the draft.

Offensive playmaker, either at wide receiver or running back, is perhaps the Bills’ biggest need entering the offseason. Throughout his three years at Colorado, all Laviska Shenault did was make play after play.

He caught 149 passes for 1,943 yards and 10 touchdowns throughout his collegiate career, earning All-Pac-12 team honors twice.

To look solely at Shenault’s receiving stats, however, would be to discredit his overall impact on his offense. Colorado used Shenault at nearly every position throughout his three years at Boulder, deploying him from the outside, in the slot, in the backfield, and even as a wildcat quarterback. He finished his collegiate career 2,223 yards from scrimmage and 17 touchdowns.

Shenault is far from your prototypical No. 1 wide receiver, a player who a team can line up on the boundary play after play. What he can be, however, is a No. 1 offensive weapon, a player who can consistently pick up yardage in a variety of ways.

Though Buffalo fans are clamoring for a traditional No. 1 wide receiver, a player like Shenault is perhaps a better fit. Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll likes to do creative things with his offensive weapons, and there’s seemingly nothing that Shenault cannot do offensively.

Though he won’t consistently be lined up against the opposition’s top cornerbacks, Shenault could be a high-volume player in Buffalo given his versatility. If he’s available when the Bills go on the clock on the first night of the 2020 NFL Draft, Brandon Beane should run to the podium and not look back.

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