I don't think you're being too hard given his "hype". But I think ALL of us were wrong in buying into the hype at such a high level. Had Shep simply been a legit D-1 player coming out of high school (i.e. 3-4* recruit), I think more people would be happy with him (not the drops of course, but his over-all performance). But a LOT of people out there still view him as this 5-star world-beater and frankly, concentration and technique have elluded him....a lot, IMO. Beckham, a true freshman, is showing better play-making ability and better pass catching ability than Shep at this point. Shep, right now, is no better than a 3rd WR and 3rd or 4th best option for Lee in the passing game, IMO. He needs to step it up. And I know last night was his first live action of the season so I honestly didn't expect anything eye-opening in his performance (and it baffled me as to how many people HONESTLY expected him to set the game on fire last night in his first game back), but I DID expect his stat line/production to be better
There were two passes down the seam to Shep that were low, underthrown balls. All he did was reach down and make half-hearted attempts at catches. I feel he needed to come back to the underthrown balls and "attack the ball" as receivers are taught to do. On both plays the DB had his back to the ball and was not in line with the angle of the throw. I felt Shep could have taken a step back to the ball in both instances and made the catch. It was his first game since January, so hopefully he will get better as the season goes.
Even last season I remember he was not able to handle or catch the low balls thrown to him by JJ. Diving for low balls doesn't seem to fit his style He does best when he has the ball in space.
If he's taking away playing time or attention from Beckham that's not a good thing. Shep doesn't have the natural instincts of a WR. He's a lot better coming out of the backfield.
yeah i agree, i dont think he has lived up too the hype, doesnt have real good hands. He did make one great catch last night, but although they were not great throws his efforts on the other catches were not good. On one pass in particular to shep, it seemed a little low, but if you look at it good, Lee threw the ball a little inside and low to shep, but lee was throwing the ball to the open area, if she slant in to the ball it hits him in stride, but he kept running down the seam, that's why it seemed a little low...he doesnt adjust to the throws. beckham does a great job at adjusting to the ball.
Before i make a final judgement on Shep I'm chalking this one up to rust. He certainly looks like he plays soft to me though. OBJ excites me far more at the receiver position.
It's because Shepard is a running back at heart and he want to get that ball and run. Sometimes you just have to slide and make the catch, but Shepard doesn't like to compromise the possibility of running after the catch. The coaches need to do two things. One, Shepard must be aware that the need to catch the ball exceeds the possibility of advancing it. Two, Lee has to improve his accuracy to take advantage of Shepard. If you hit him in stride, he can be gone with it for serious yardage.
While I definitely agree that some of Lee's throws were a little off on the night, especially the low pass to Shep I thought was actually pretty well thrown. Higher up and the two DB's on Shep could have made a play on it. It still went through Shep's hands to hit the ground. Also IIRC Lee got hit when he threw that pass.
