The New York Giants‘ offense has a solid stable of playmakers. Daniel Jones is entering his second NFL season and has a new offensive scheme to learn under offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. However, his weapons have not changed. Jones will have the same teammates to share the ball with in 2020 that he did in 2019.
Golden Tate, Saquon Barkley, Evan Engram, and Sterling Shepard will serve once again as Daniel Jones’s primary targets. Maybe his favorite target in 2019 was former Oklahoma Sooner Sterling Shepard. Shepard played many snaps on the outside and in the slot last season, but he was particularly efficient on the inside.
Sterling Shepard Stats and Highlights
The Giants have two talented slot receivers on the roster- Golden Tate and Sterling Shepard. This has forced Shepard to play outside more often than he probably should, but he has still been productive in either alignment. But when lined up in the slot, Shepard is one of the most efficient receivers in the NFL.
Sterling Shepard ran 184 routes out of the slot in 2019. He was targeted on 42 of those passes, a target rate of 22.4%, the ninth-best rate in the league. This indicates that Shepard is getting open at a high rate when lined up as the team’s slot receiver. Â Shepard’s 42 targets from the slot accounted for about half of his total targets last season. Sterling was targeted 83 times, catching 57 passes for 576 yards and 3 touchdowns in only 10 games.
Since his rookie season, Shepard has been performing as one of the best slot receivers in the entire NFL. As a rookie in 2016, Shep scored 8 touchdowns when lined up in the slot, which was the most in the NFL that season (PFF).
Sterling Shepard has dealt with injuries throughout his NFL career. In 2019, Sterling suffered two concussions that kept him sidelined for six games. The amount of concussions that Sterling has dealt with throughout his career is concerning and frightening. One more concussion could spell the end of a short NFL career. But if Shepard stays healthy in 2020, he could have the first 1,000-yard season of his career. Daniel Jones and Sterling Shepard developed strong chemistry last season and it will be exciting to see how they elevate their game in Jason Garrett’s offense in 2020.