The NFL Draft process is an inexact science. Armed with all the possible information in the world, from film to testing data to metrics and analytics through information even gained from private investigators, 32 NFL teams have a wealth of data at their fingertips when they make every selection.
They still make mistakes. They still miss on players.
That being said, there are some players that might be a bit riskier of a selection than others. Even players that you are guaranteed to see come off the board in the first round come with some potential downsides. Here are some of those players.
Laviska Shenault Jr, WR, Colorado
Laviska Shenault is one more the more tantalizing prospects in the entire 2020 NFL Draft. He seems like a player built for the modern NFL. The Colorado Buffaloes used him all over the field during his time in Boulder, aligning him at boundary receiver, slot receiver, running back, tight end, H-Back and even quarterback. To listen to his quarterback Steven Montez tell the story, the best route on a given play was the one Shenault was running.
Consider further that Shenault does this with a body composition and athletic testing numbers that are more in line with running backs like Jordan Howard and Larry Johnson. According to MockDraftable.com, these are some of the best comparisons for Shenault:
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There is a reason that Pro Football Focus compared Shenault to Saquon Barkley in their draft guide. He is built like a running back, can run people over like a running back, but aligns all over the field. Sounds too good to be true, right?
Well, it just might be.
Consider first the injury history. The Colorado WR suffered two different injuries during his sophomore season. First, he missed three games with a turf toe injury, which required surgery at the end of the season. Additionally, Shenault suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder near the end of the 2018 campaign after he returned to the lineup. He was able to play through the injury and finish the season, but underwent surgery in February of 2019 to repair the labrum.
Then prior to the NFL Combine, it was reported that Shenault was dealing with a lingering groin injury. He reported to Indianapolis and attempted to test, but then pulled out of the Combine and it was disclosed that he was undergoing surgery to repair a sports hernia.
That playing style comes with a price.
Then there are legitimate on-field concerns. Shenault is a matchup weapon right now more than a refined wide receiver. A large part of his production came due to scheme and favorable matchups rather than him running a route and beating man coverage. He needs to work at the finer points of playing the position to be a consistent threat at the next level.
A perfect roadmap for Shenault can be found with Cordarelle Patterson. When he was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, that staff tried to utilize him as a true receiver. They expected him to have good footwork on his routes and clean releases against press. Minnesota asked him to do things like run a perfect comeback route against man coverage. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it did not completely work out.
Then when he arrived in New England to play for the Patriots, they asked him to…just be an offensive weapon. They used him on jet sweeps. They gave him a limited route tree to run. When injuries mounted they put him in the backfield and handed him the football.
So the scheme fit is going to be a big part of the story as well.
Provided he is healthy, and finds the right landing spot, Shenault can thrive at the next level. But those are two huge “ifs.” Given that the NFL on the whole has only started to think outside the box when it comes to the quarterback position – and how the league might be struggling when it comes to players like Isaiah Simmons – how confident are we that Shenault is going to find such a fit on draft night?