Russell Shepard should have been a cornerback. His HS Coach screwed him when he put his best athlete at QB and then the rating services screwed him by rating him a 5* dual threat QB and made him think he was a quarterback and made colleges recruit him as a QB. For comparison Morris Claiborne was a 3* QB and LSU recruited him as an athlete and immediately put him at CB and the rest is history. He also doesn't have the hands to be a good WR, and he doesn't need "more touches". I think maybe he can be a contributor this year with Mett as QB, but LSU has several WRs better than Shepard. It's kind of sad really, because he IS a great athlete.
Are we ever going to find out exactly what happened during the bar fight, or will that be forever stored away like the missing 18 1/2 minutes from the Watergate tapes or who really killed Kennedy? I mean, once the charges were dropped from a felony to a misdemeanor, and JJ rejoined the team, nothing more was revealed. Now that the season is over and Jefferson is history, will we ever know what really happened, and who did what? maybe I missed something in the news.
Miles' tenure has been plagued by his inability to recruit/develop a legit QB. It's hard to believe what he's accomplished without one.
To be fair, JJ is obviously a practice hero. It's not like Miles put so much faith into him for no reason. For further proof, look at what he did during the all star game practices. He might end up actually being drafted despite all of the terrible game time film of him.
If you ever watched Sheppard in the backfield you would understand why he isn't a QB. He was CONSTANTLY out of position and Jefferson was always pointing him towards his spot. And this was late in the 2010 season when he should have at least been getting where he was supposed to line up right. But I do wish they had used him more in a wildcat or running back position last season. That said I think he has a breakout season next year. You don't keep a good athlete like he is from stepping in and making an impact.
I can't believe I'm reading this. Shepard is a great athlete that, after two years, still has a problem lining up on offense. Do you believe he could ever have the ability to read SEC defences? We'll never know
I gotta agree with the original poster. The only passes Jordan could complete consistently were 0-5 yard passes. Surely Shepard could have done that. I think the coaching staff botched this one. But i'm not gonna cry about it either. It's done. I think they did Shepard a favor though because he obviously wouldn't have made it to the next level as a quarterback.
I'm probably in the minority but think Shepard could have been a very good college QB if the offense was tailored around his skills (spread offense). I don't think he had much of a shot at developing into an NFL QB so the change in position may have been embraced by Shepard. In Shepard's senior year of high school in the highest class of Texas football (i.e. the big boys), he finished 115-211 (55% completion %) for 1,849 yds, 18 TDs / 4 INTs. He also rushed for 1,947 yds and 29 TDs. In his final high school game (loss in the playoffs by score of 48-55), he was 12-20 with 227 yds and 3 TDs (0 INT). He also ran 31 times for 311 yds in that game.
