It's not just that, I don't think it was ever a case of RS's athleticism, but what he had between his ears. To be honest, the dude was a great special teams player his senior year. He was like James Wright.
The 4-12 Tampa Bay Bucs never let him touch the ball. http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/16227/russell-shepard
When he first signed with LSU I heard several interviews with him on the radio. He sounded intelligent. He was pretty articulate. He said all the right things and had a great attitude and sounded like a team leader. He even did everything he could to recruit other top recruits to come here and play with him. He was a little cocky but you want your good players to have that kind of confidence. The fact that he is still on an NFL roster indicates that he does have enough talent to be noticed at the next level even if he hasn't played. I guess we'll never know what he did to get into Les Miles doghouse. I'm surprised that he never transferred to somewhere he could get playing time but even now he still loves LSU
I think Sheps biggest issue was dropped passes if memory serves me correct. Excellent speed, agility and very elusive, just wasn't big enough to play RB.
I first saw Shep at a Scrimmage before his Sr year in high school. Got a chance to meet his high school Head Coach Gary Thiebaud that same day. Nice guy, we talked about Shep before he had arrived for the game. Shep's younger brother (Nick) was on that same team, he played DB. During that season, I saw Shep play 5 times in games. A great high school talent. While at LSU, I got to see Shep helping with the Breakfast Club, working with other players. Nothing I could say bad about Shep, seem to represent the Tigers with class every time I saw him. He helped some of the players stay on the straight and narrow. Nothing but the best of luck to him.
Excuse me but the practice squad doesn't see the field...it's the PRACTICE SQUAD! I'm happy for Russell and know he will be a success if not a football but in life. He seems a great kid. He is there because of his speed and pros values speed. Tampa has little risk and cost in keeping him and if he does develop it is a bonus. Just because he is on the practice squad of a bottom feeder team doesn't mean that Les and LSU didn't know how to use him...it is more likely another reason Tampa Bay is a bottom feeding team...poor judge of talent.
Where is this PS stuff coming from? Someone posted that he caused a couple of fumbles on special teams. Pretty sure the effing practice squad doesn't cover punt returns (well maybe in gumpville) I admit he never lived up to the hype at LSU but if you are on an NFL roster you must be good for something. Funny he gets all this flack from a bunch of Internet tough guys.
How different is that internet tough guy mentality from the internet I could coach this team better mentality? Or the internet I'd be a better judge of talent than the coaches getting paid millions of dollars mentality. How sane is to believe that Les is a mediocre coach that lucks into consistent double digit win seasons while residing in the SEC West? I forgot to add that Lady Luck has tossed him a couple of SEC Championships and a Crystal Ball to boot.
This is a difficult season to predict. We have a strong base as recruiting has been strong and there is no doubt we have talent as good as anywhere. Last year we were weak up the middle on defense and it showed. To me how our new D tackles, Welter or whoever at MLB and the safeties play will tell the tale. I have faith that Brick, the chief and Corey Raymond will do what it takes to have the team step up and be more like the past few years. We are as strong as ever at DE, LB and CB. This should help. However it is more than talent that is required to be great. Toughness of will and spirit and the ability to dig down and do what is needed to win makes the difference between a good team and a great one. We will only find out who and what these guys are after the season begins. On offense the core is strong. The O line is talented and deep and hopefully Grimes will put the polish and edge on it to make it truly outstanding. With that and the running backs Magee and Hilliard we can feel secure that the run offense will have a basis for success. LF7 is a potential to make it spectacular. The big question is the QB and receiver and unfortunately no one can really predict what will happen. We have talent no doubt but watching the 3 years before last year shows that talent is not all that is required. We will depend on what Cam does to groom them. He does have a past that says it is possible. I think our special teams will be as solid as we could wish for. I think the test of the SEC west will be difficult. There are no softies in the bunch except maybe Arkansas. Moo State, and Ole Piss will have their best teams in years. Add in Fla and Wisconsin to the Al, Aub & aTm and even with a good performance we could have a poorer record. We could also have a regular season similar to 2010 and 2011. I tend to be optimistic and am looking for a 10-2 record and potential SECW championship. The SECW will be a fight and I don't see anyone going through without 1 or more losses.
