Sterling Shepard isn’t the only Shepard on the New York Giants, or even his position group. Russell Shepard is another player in the running for the team’s wide receiver spots, along with plenty of other outsiders such as Cody Latimer and Corey Coleman.
The Giants lost Odell Beckham Jr. to a trade with the Cleveland Browns this season, but with a number of other players fighting for spots, they might just be deeper than a good number of other teams this year based on the addition of Golden Tate and the number of other players that have the potential to take a step forward this year.
One of those players is Russell Shepard, who joined the team in 2018 after bouncing between other organizations such as the Panthers and Buccaneers. He signed a new contract in 2019, following a season where he registered 188 yards and a pair of touchdowns. But with Beckham being gone, and the order of things being shaken up heavily for the wide receivers on the team, there’s no telling if Shepard will find more yards and more touchdowns this season.
Shepard isn’t the only player with expectations this season. Quarterback Daniel Jones is obviously under a lot of media attention right now because of the Giants drafting him number six overall, even if he isn’t expected to get much playing time this year according to most statements from figures around the team itself.
According to Shepard, though, Jones is already better than some of the experts are making him out to be. “Daniel just got here and you can tell he’s going to be a good one. He kind of hands [the ball] to you without handing it to you. He’s a very talented passer. Very reserved, very confident guy,” Shepard told Giants.com.
“Just the way he throws the football, he can spin it. He’s a very talented passer,” Shepard continued. “To me, again, from a physical standpoint and even a mental standpoint, it makes complete sense why he’s here now.”
Jones may be able to get to know Shepard better in training camp if both players end up training with the second team, which looks like it will be Jones’ destination at first as a first year quarterback sitting behind Eli Manning. How will Jones play? We won’t get to see that until training camp and the preaseaon… But from what’s available now, it definitely seems like the player has some hype behind him. Even if that hype is mostly from his team’s own fanbase rather than the media at large.