re: Russell Shepard experiment

quote:

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"Russell, we no longer will work with you as a quarterback. you will not be a quarterback in the NFL (mike vick was ok, vince young disappointment). we need you to be our Percy Harvin, our sometimes receiver, sometimes running back. we want you to work full time on that, learn the slot, get one on one with linebackers and safeties and use your elusiveness. this will be for the team's good and your own personal good for the future. its give you a better chance to continue your football careet post LSU."

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Shepard will be a very good QB for us. But the O has to be built around him, and it has to start with his running. His throwing will always be an issue, and the passing game will depend on his success running the ball. If he's as good as we think he is, defenses will be forced to give him easy passes.

NFL teams probably aren't willing to try this kind of O, but he'll be a good value for whoever drafts him. His immediate contribution will be as a wildcat QB, but he could end up as a Wes Welker after a year or two. He will have a long career. He has a clean injury history, and his flexible body and wiggly running style indicate that he has a good chance of staying healthy as long as he keeps his weight above 210 lean.

With that said, I do think that for this year, he will have to sacrifice some of his QB development so we can get him on the field ASAP in other spots, where he can help us now. He won't be able to help the team as a QB until Jefferson leaves, or the coaches make a decision to change into the Shep offense next year (which like it or not, Les won't do, out of fairness to JJ).

tl;dr... In college, Shep will be a QB and will be very good, but the offense will have to be built around his running. Playing QB in college won't hurt his NFL future in the long run. But as long as JJ's here, let's slow down on Shep's QB stuff and get him on the field faster in a Percy position.