We were the only team that recruited him as a QB, it's not his best position at this level, most coaches thought. Les promised him a shot at QB. If he doesn't have an SEC-caliber arm yet, then let him run . . . he's gaining 6.2 yards a carry.
this. but red, my friend, who knows? we haven't seen him even get a chance to throw the ball. maybe he doesn't have that "sec-caliber" arm, but i'm betting that his arm is still plenty strong enough for some designed throws to mix in with the designed runs.
Les and Gary Crowton HAVE seen him and so have the receivers. They Know. Rumors from August practice was that Shepard was scattering his passes and didn't have the playbook down yet. That's no condemnation of a freshman, he will improve. I trust his coaches not to put him in to do anything that he isn't ready for. He's definitely ready to run.
Whether he lacks the arm or not, he still has to throw the ball to keep the D honest. Personally, Id rather see him in the game at RB in a split backfield in the pistol formation. As things are now, he should just be red shirted. Getting 3 touches per game is doing nothing for his development. Nor is he actually helping the team improve. Id like to see Shepard get 15-20 plays at various positions with about 5-10 touches in runs and catches. He does need to protect the ball a lot better though. He will have to bulk and strengthen up no matter what position he plays. He looks way too frail.
This is exactly my point about why Les is confused. He promised him a shot at QB and now has a conundrum on his hands because of it. I think deep down Les knows Shep is not going to be our starting QB. Lets be honest with the kid and tell him he's the next Percy Harvin instead of holding on to this notion about him being the QB. Shep is electric and needs the ball more. We've seen flashes of it but it wont be fully exposed until he gets more touches. At 6.2 yards a carry and only averaging 3 touches a game means we are keeping a damn strong weapon on the bench. It would be far more valuable on the field.
Just ATTEMPTING a pass will keep the D honest and may create more running lanes if they're not loading up 11 in the box to key on the run. I think we see it next week.
I agree that we need to get it in his hands more and I agree with using him like Harvin right now at times. But I definitely wouldn't rule him out as a QB in the future. That's what he was in high school and there are certain players that are so potentially good that you design the offense to fit around them (Tebow...Pat White...). So he's not the guy right now, but you don't rule it out. Besides, if that's part of the reason he came here, we shouldn't just rule it out. Remember, he isn't even through the halfway point in his true freshman season. It may take him some time to get the throwing/routes down...but he's just a freshman. I know that reading his scouting reports on ESPN coming out of HS, they said he had a smooth and quick delivery, zip on his short passes, could fit football in tight spots, throw across his body and put a nice touch on long balls. Now college is a different game and he may be having issues right now, but based on those observations by those guys who watch all this stuff, he's got all the potential in the world. So right now, I wouldn't rule anything out. We got the best use out of him so far on Saturday by keeping him in for a while on that one drive and he had the majority of the yards on that drive where we scored to get to 6 points. I love that fake to Trindon...that looks extremely tough! You don't get a better fake than that.
I thought that, perhaps, Shepard was supposed to throw the ball both of the times he called the time outs, especially the first time in the first half. JJ was out wide in that formation with Holiday in the backfield. It could've been an interesting play, but he seemed afraid to pull the trigger.
