Tag: Leviska Shenault

Updated Seahawks WR depth chart after Laviska Shenault signing

The Seahawks have added to what was already the best wide receiver room in professional football.

The Seahawks have added to what was already the best wide receiver room in professional football. On Tuesday Seattle announced the signing of former Jaguars and Panthers receiver/kickoff returner Laviska Shenault Jr., bringing in another intriguing and versatile weapon for Ryan Grubb to employ in his first year as offensive coordinator.

Right now it’s tough to tell exactly what head coach Mike Macdonald has in mind for Year 1, but let’s see if we can guess what the team’s wide receiver depth chart looks like after adding Shenault.

  • DK Metcalf
  • Jaxon Smith-Njigba
  • Tyler Lockett
  • Jake Bobo
  • Leviska Shenault
  • Dareke Young
  • Dee Eskridge
  • Cody White
  • Easop Winston Jr.

Shenault is undoubtedly a better athlete than Bobo, but he’s also more likely to make an impact on special teams, where the Seahawks have a dearth of options at kick returner. With DeeJay Dallas gone the only other kickoff returner from last season still on the team is Eskridge, who is far from a sure thing for obvious reasons.

Unless one of them gets injured, we expect the only receivers to see significant targets as Metcalf, Lockett, JSN and Bobo.

More Seahawks Wire stories

2024 NFL draft: Seahawks go QB in Round 1 projections

Seahawks make big trade with the 49ers in this 7-round mock

Ranking all 32 teams by salary cap space after free agency

Seahawks fans react to rumor of a bad Tyler Lockett trade

4 reasons why the Bills should ultimately pass on AJ Green

While Buffalo should take a look at Green in the offseason, ultimately, here are four reasons why the Bills should pass on Green moving forward.

The top priority for the Buffalo Bills is to find stronger playmakers on the offensive side of the ball this offseason. The team made strides over the past two years on the offense. However, there is still plenty of room for improvement for Buffalo’s offense. 

The Bills were tied for 23rd in points per game, 26th in passing yards per game, and 24th in touchdown receptions. There’s room for improvement. 

Buffalo is in need of a big, playmaking wide receiver. With this in mind, it’s natural that many would connect the Bills with high-end wide receivers in free agency. One intriguing name has piqued the interest of many following Buffalo is A.J. Green. 

While Green’s tantalizing skill has made him one of the best players at the position in recent years, there are several reasons to be concerned about making a substantial investment in the seven-time Pro-Bowler moving forward. 

While Buffalo could take a look at Green in the offseason, ultimately, here are four reasons why the Bills should pass on Green moving forward:

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green. Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Price tag

Green is coming off a four-year, $60 million dollar extension that he signed in 2015. Even with the deal signed in the middle of the decade, Green’s average yearly salary ranked 11th among receivers in 2019. 

Spotrac views Green’s market value at just over $9 million per season, seeing a two-year, $18.1 million contract as the going rate for the wideout. This compares his contract with Julian Edelman, Emanuel Sanders, Larry Fitzgerald, and DeSean Jackson. Even though these contracts are similar, Green’s arguably the second-best player, next to Fitzgerald, on the list. 

The free agency frenzy drives up the cost of a player. The market value is conservative at this point, as teams will be bidding on the services of Green, Sanders, Amari Cooper, Robby Anderson, and Randall Cobb. 

Fitzgerald signed a one-year extension to remain with Arizona at a cost of $11 million. Green, more explosive and younger than Fitzgerald, will be looking for something bigger than his counterpart’s contract. Thus, a yearly average of $13-15 million is not out of the cards for Green. 

This would place Green as the largest cap hit on Buffalo’s roster. 

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay explore Bills offseason plans

Mel Kiper, Jr. and Todd McShay explored Buffalo’s draft plan at this point in the offseason.

With just two weeks until the start of NFL Scouting Combine, the draft hype is just starting to heat up. ESPN’s First Draft Podcast took a look at the future of the Bills and how the team can push its way to the top of the AFC East.

Analyst Mel Kiper, Jr. gave a shoutout to quarterback Josh Allen as the central piece for the Bills success. “They are, and they’re a team that is not going away as long as Allen can play.”  Kiper, who challenged his colleague Todd McShay about his view on Allen, highlighted the quarterback is far from perfect, but the intangibles more than makeup for the sometimes questionable decisions. Kiper added, “The players love him. They’ll go through a wall for this guy on offense and defense. I’ve never seen a team go to bat for their quarterback as much as these guys have.”

Kiper continued, “He [Allen] improved in every category dramatically from his rookie year.” Allen increased his yards passing per game by 20 yards and doubled his touchdown production all while limiting the number of interceptions thrown. This is the growth that the team expected when he was drafted seventh overall in the 2018 draft.

Kiper, Jr. brought it back to how the team can help Allen improve. “One thing that Allen needs is a bigger target. You’ve got Cole Beasley, a really good player, slot guy, and you’ve got John Brown, a really good player.” However, Kiper sees the absence of a big target for Allen. “But when you got to get a mismatch, who are you throwing to?”

Kiper,Jr.  added that the Bills have constructed a deep roster, possible one of the stronger groups in the league. “They got the cornerstone player in Josh [Allen], they got the cornerstone player on defense in [Tremaine] Edmunds, they got a shutdown corner in [Tre’Davious] White, Oliver could be really good along the interior, and they’ve got a lot of nice pieces in place.”

While discussing young quarterbacks in the AFC East, McShay made a plea that New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold has “a chance at being one of the three-or-four best quarterbacks in the league.”

Kiper, Jr.’s response: “I think Josh Allen does as well.”

Buffalo will look to supplement Allen with additional skill players this offseason. Both analysts, while they disagree on Allen, believe wide receiver is a need in the draft.

Kiper, Jr. mentioned all of the top wide receivers as options at the 22nd spot in the draft.  Colorado’s Levisha Shenault and Clemson’s Tee Higgins were options named at this point.

McShay, for his part, shared there will be talent on day two of the draft at the wide receiver position. “Don’t force it the first round” was McShay’s advice. The analyst revealed that if an edge rusher is available at the No. 22 spot, the Bills could wait on the receiver until the second round. McShay shared that Arizona State’s Brandon Aiyuk, Florida’s Van Jefferson, and USC’s Michael Pittman could be viable options of day two for the Bills.

The NFL Draft Combine takes place from February 24-March 1.

[lawrence-related id=55563,55516,55485]