When will Coach Les Miles unveil the Russel Shepard "Plaque" outside Tiger Stadium? (by the way, anyone notice that #10 and#11 are both Shepards? we'll have to call #10 "the Good Shepard" cause the other one seems to be a real hitman!! :hihi:.)
I'm torn about this one. The freshman mistake thing doesn't fly with me. Lots of true freshmen playing around the country, some of them at QB, some of them doing very well. Shepard is small and he won't be able to juke every CB or Safety out there. He's going to take some hits. He may get hurt. But that's football. I think the bigger issue - and what the staff is doing - is getting Shep enough touches to give him some perspective for the speed and tempo of the game, the violence of a full-speed SEC defense. Once he's seen it and has adjusted his picture, I think we see him a lot more. Clearly, even full-pad practices don't prepare a kid like Shep for the headhunting beasts that will be aimed at him in the coming weeks. He's learning. He'll be ready soon. By the way - 200lbs is small if you're a target everytime you're on the field.
I was very impressed by Shepard and think he'll be a big time guy shortly...maybe not this year though. In addition, am I the only won who wants to see Jarrett Lee get another shot at it this year. Jefferson seem shakey.
I'm a big Lee supporter. I think the kid got a raw deal from fans last year. And I gotta say, yes - You probably are the only one. Because, while Jefferson isn't lighting up the stat sheets, I wouldn't call his play shaky. Just my opinion,though.
I couldn't believe how amazing Shepard was last night. Dude is PURE talent! The fumble sucked, but I'm hoping it was only because it looked like he tried to stiff-arm a defender with the football. I think he's going to be the definition of "play-maker" by the end of the season.
