Laviska Shenault Jr. did not get many touches the past two seasons as he bounced in a backup role from the Carolina Panthers to the Seattle Seahawks.
But Shenault gave a glimpse of his big-play running ability in October for the Seahawks when he took a kickoff return 97 yards for a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers.
Laviska Shenault Jr.
Laviska Shenault Jr., returning a kickoff for Seattle in a game against Atlanta last October, will have a chance to boost the Bills' return game. Danny Karnik, Associated Press
The new Buffalo Bills free-agent signee pinballed off a would-be tackler at the 30-yard line, broke a tackle at the 45 and outran the 49ers coverage unit to the end zone.
“I think anytime a ball’s in my hands, it's a great possibility. Something great will happen,” Shenault said of his approach to kickoff returns at his introductory news conference in Orchard Park. “So, I mean, I get to touch the ball, and with the new rules, I just think it's a lot of opportunity there. I feel like I left a lot on the field last year, so I'm looking forward to leaving nothing on the field this year.”
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Shenault, 26, signed a one-year contract with the Bills to join the roster as a wide receiver and a kickoff return candidate.
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Kickoff returns might be his best chance to make an impact with Buffalo in 2025. He caught just five passes for the Seahawks last season, but he had 16 kickoff returns for 459 yards (10th-best in the NFL) and a 28.7-yard average (also 10th-best in the NFL).
Bills general manager Brandon Beane acknowledged that the Bills liked Shenault when he came out of the University of Colorado in 2020. Shenault was drafted in the second round by Jacksonville.
“Wide receiver, kick returner – he’s been dynamic with the ball in his hands,” Beane said. “We had some love for him when he came out. I think that was the Covid draft. He’s had ... some ups and downs in his career, moved to a few different teams.”
The NFL overhauled the kickoff return rules last season, moving the coverage and return units closer together and forcing the kicking team to wait until the return man catches the ball before moving to cover the kick.
“The league is really pushing hard to get the kickoff back into play, last year with the rule change,” Beane said. “We have the owners meetings in a couple weeks. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more changes made to up the percentage of kickoffs (returns). We do want to have some options for that. ... He’s a guy you want to get the ball in his hands in various ways. He’s good with it. Very dynamic, and he can hit a home run.”
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Shenault will compete on kickoff returns with Brandon Codrington, who did a good job for the Bills last year, averaging 27.8 yards on 11 returns. Codrington was the primary punt returner, too.
Shenault also offers depth insurance at receiver. His skills are similar to those of Curtis Samuel, although Samuel is faster. Samuel ran a blazing 4.31 40-yard dash time; Shenault ran 4.58.
There figures to be plenty of competition for the fifth and perhaps sixth wide receiving spot on the Bills. Shenault, Tyrell Shavers, K.J. Hamler and Jalen Virgil currently are in that mix, and the Bills could add a rookie in the draft.
The fact that Shenault was picked early in the second round of the 2020 draft, No. 42 overall, was a surprise to no one.
“Laviska Shenault would be a fun toy, somebody you could put in the slot and run fly sweeps with,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said before the 2020 draft. “You could put him in the backfield. He’d be a heck of a lot of fun. He’s just tough to get on the ground with the ball in his hands.”
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Laviska Shenault Jr., catching a touchdown pass for Jacksonville in 2021, will try to make the Bills as a receiver and kickoff returner this season. Ron Jenkins, Associated Press
Shenault’s NFL career got off to a good start. He had 58 catches as a rookie for Jacksonville in 2020 and 63 catches in 2021. Then the Jaguars traded him to Carolina just before the 2022 season, and he languished on the Panthers’ bench before suffering an ankle injury.
“I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses or anything, but they cleaned house after my first year, then they cleaned house after my second year,” Shenault said, referring to the Jaguars’ firing of Doug Marrone in 2021 and Urban Meyer in 2022. “So I mean, those coaches come in and they got their guys and stuff like that. They got their vision of how they want things. And maybe I just wasn't part of that vision. ... I feel like being in the league, you know how it goes. You know how it works.”
Shenault had a good perception of Buffalo entering free agency based on positive talk from former Seattle teammate Tyrel Dodson, who played for the Bills from 2019-23.
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“This is a great organization. I mean, I hear from a lot of players that have played here,” Shenault said. “The fans are crazy. I love the fans. I love the energy that they bring. And then the team – you know, it's a playoff-caliber team every year. So I just think there's a lot of great opportunities here.”
Shenault also has been told that he was a favorite of Bills fans on social media entering the 2020 draft.
“These last three years kind of messes with the confidence when you're not performing or doing the things that you want to do,” he said. “So to come to a place where you know fans are behind you ... but also knowing that it's coaches here that know me and was looking at me, I think it's just big just on the mental part of it.”
New Bills special teams coordinator Chris Tabor was with Shenault in Carolina in 2022 and ’23.
“I believe he was in my corner, and I appreciate him seeing what I can bring to the table,” Shenault said. “I'm trying to take it to a whole another level. And I'm trying to really – not prove to people – but prove to myself that that I'm that dude.”
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