There has been alot of effort to get him the ball on runs and passes. He has dropped at least 4 passes that I remember and has had some fantastic plays including a few touchdowns. I am tired of hearing that we need to get him the ball more when we have other playmakers. If he didn't have the errors, maybe. But if he wasn't so heralded, what would you think of the mistakes he has made as a young player? He is and will be a fantastic Tiger, but he is not PP at this point (a junior) and is still learning.
I agree he is pressing and thus some of the mistakes, but the coaches are definitely trying to get him the ball, don't you agree?
I agree with you. He is a play maker but I believe they are trying to hard to get him the ball. When he goes in the runningback spot the defense knows we are giving it to him which makes the play less effective. If we had a better passing game we could fake it to him and do a play action every once in a while.
They are, but the lack of a downfield passing threat is hindering his contributions. If he lines up at RB, defenses know it's a sweep or a toss. If he lines up wide, it's a swing pass and the LB or CB covering him comes sprinting upfield for the tackle. There have already been a couple of times with this play where Shepard's sheer athleticism made positive yards out of what should have been a 6-8 yard loss. That won't happen often against teams with shutdown corners and speedy outside LBs. His drops are part of the growing pains of playing a new position. It took a few years in Sean Payton's system for Reggie to become a dependable downfield receiving threat.
+1... I would like to see Lee get a chance to chuck it downfield. If he did anything well in 2008, that was it!
I agree with you whole-heartedly. I think they need to find more CREATIVE ways to get him the ball. The play that he's scored on...the running play? It was the same play every time. That same play was tried at least twice last night. It gained some yards, but only due to his sheer athleticism. WVU had it sniffed out as soon as the ball was snapped. That play is done with. Besides McNeese and ULM, every other team on our schedule will stuff that play. - Not so much here, but on TOS, the tards are constantly griping about Shep not getting enough touches. Some on here were a few weeks ago too. It isn't that he doesn't get ENOUGH touches. It's that he needs to get them in different ways. And if he gets MORE touches...it needs to be from the Wild Tiger. IMO.
