re: Will Russell Shepard play or be surpassed by the new talent at WR????

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I think he will be one of most impactful offensive players in 2011.

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Not as a WR. He's averaging about 3 catches and 20 yards a game for his career. I don't expect that to change very much. If he gets more work as a scat back, then he might be able to break a few plays. He has about 4 explosive, game-changing plays in his career, and they all came on runs. That's where he needs to be used.

The fact of the matter is, we have three better QBs than him in Jefferson, Lee, and Mett, we have at least two better RBs than him in Ford and Ware (and possibly Hilliard), and we have better WRs than him in Randle, Wright, and Williams (and possibly Landry).

And no, I'm not going to start a thread if Shep blows up next year. If that happens, the only thing it means is that he put in some serious work this offseason and finally began to live up to the hype that he garnered out of HS. But that doesn't change the fact that he's not a legitimate force anywhere on the field AT THIS TIME.

Wrong Chilge if he blows up this year it will be due to the OC change and slightly better QB play. Passing was atrocious last year. P.S. I have no idea how many balls AJ Green dropped last year. I just made and empty claim that so many make on here to dis Shep. The truth is you don't know how many he dropped, and I disagree based on watching the games.

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if he blows up this year it will be due to the OC change and slightly better QB play

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That's a bullshite argument. Players have to be held accountable for themselves. LaFell went through bad QB play in 2009 and got drafted in the third round. Toliver went through the same QB play that Shepard did, and he's projected to be a third-rounder. I'm not making the same criticisms about Randle as I am about Shepard.

No. Shepard's success is related to how well he does his job. That's it. In case you hadn't noticed, my main points weren't about his numbers... they were about fundamental technique. Blocking assignments. Route-running. His hands. None of these things is influenced by QB play.

The truth isn't that I can't recognize talent. It's that you can't recognize that Russell Shepard is an athlete playing wide receiver, and we have wide receivers on the bench that can do a better job than he has given the chance.

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i'm not ready to label shep a bust but he needs to make more of an impact on the game this season. harvin made his mark running the football and became a 1st round draft pick.

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I'm not handing down any convictions yet, but his play is never going to equal his hype out of HS. He can be a solid player, still, but those offensive explosion, game-changing offensive juggernaut are not gonna happen for him.

I think he could be more like Randall Cobb if he worked at it