In his smooth, distinct style, WR Laviska Shenault Jr. cracks big play in Panthers win
Laviska Shenault Jr. was swarmed by reporters on one side of the Panthers’ locker room on Sunday. Turns out, he was the topic of conversation on the other side, too.
“Are you up there with the best-dressed guys on the team?” a reporter asked Panthers linebacker Frankie Luvu, who was wearing a bright green Gucci shirt and a Los Angeles fitted cap.
Luvu responded with a smirk: “I’d say Top 5.”
“Who else is up there with you?”
“1-5, who balled out today,” Luvu said of Shenault, the Panthers’ new receiver who sports the number 15. “15 for sure.”
Shenault wore dark-rimmed sunglasses and a white hat and a green checkered jumpsuit and an easy smile, and his smooth and understated style off the field seemed to underscore what he’d just done on it: He delivered the only offensive explosion the 70,000 fans on-hand at Bank of America Stadium saw on Sunday — and it helped boost the Panthers to their first win of the 2022 season, 22-14 over the New Orleans Saints.
It was his first catch of the season, too.
It might be the greatest first catch in Panthers history.
“I try to bring a lot of skill to the team,” Shenault said, chuckling at that particular bit of history. “And when I’m able to be free and go play, that’s what you’ll get.”
The play that had Uptown Charlotte in an uproar late in the second half was remarkably simple — he was a secondary option running a flat route on the left for a pass that he caught around the line of scrimmage and took 67 yards for a score.
The call wasn’t necessarily for Shenault, head coach Matt Rhule recalled postgame.
“Early on, we had a play where we ran him back on a naked (bootleg), and they defended him,” Rhule said. “So we had some plays for him. Certainly the ball that he caught, he was just sort of running a flat route, it’s really supposed to go to the other guy. But they played it differently, and Baker (Mayfield) played it perfectly and got him the ball.
“And he turned and ran down the field.”
If “ran down the field” feels a bit understated for the biggest offensive play of the game — and perhaps the season — for Carolina, you can’t blame the coach who described it. The run was smooth. Simple. Shenault caught the ball virtually at the line of scrimmage and wove through two waves of defenders without changing his stride, putting on a style that feels equal parts smooth and distinct.
Shenault arrived just before Week 1 of 2022, being part of a trade between the Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars. In 2020, the wide receiver was the 42nd overall pick in the draft, but injuries to his hamstring and his shoulder in his first two years in the league subdued his production.
But don’t let his easy-going veneer fool you: Shenault is “a competitive guy,” Rhule said.
“That’s why we traded for him,” he said. “He’s come far enough along that we feel like we have a good feel for him. He also had a great kickoff return. So we’ll just continue to up his workload now that we have seen what he can truly do.”
This story was originally published September 25, 2022 at 5:56 PM.
