Sterling Shepard Fantasy News and Statistics

New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard was a standout three-sport athlete (football, track and basketball) at his high school in Oklahoma. He was also a four-star recruit in football and an Under Armour All-American. So it came as no surprise that he was a standout from the start at Oklahoma, where he had a productive career for the Sooners on the gridiron.

As a true freshman, Shepard was not only able to see the field, he was fourth on the team in receptions (45) and receiving yards (621) behind Kenny Stills, Justin Brown and Jalen Saunders. In just his second career game as a college player, Shepard showed off his potential when he recorded seven catches for 108 yards in a tight loss to Kansas State. The following season, his numbers were practically identical to what they were the year before, except he also had seven touchdown grabs. The Sooners had lost Landry Jones to graduation, so the unappealing quarterback situation and a heavy reliance on the ground game that season affected his numbers a bit.

Shepard was able to gain more playing time his junior year despite missing three games due to an injury. Before suffering the setback, however, he was burning the opposition constantly. He had eight catches for 177 yards in a blowout win over Tulsa. It was part of a span in which he had at least 100 receiving yards in five out of six games. But from his team’s blowout win over Iowa State on Nov. 1 through the rest of the year, he had minimal impact on the team.

By the time Shepard was a senior, he was in a position to be his team’s go-to receiver. That ended up being the case. After earning 970 receiving yards his junior year, he had 86 catches for 1,288 yards (15.0 yards per catch) and 11 touchdowns for the Sooners. Again, he had five 100-yard games, and although he did not reach 100 yards in the game, he had a strong performance in the Orange Bowl with seven catches for 87 yards. It was his final college performance of his career.

With his college career complete, Shepard, who had a successful Big 12 football career, entered the 2016 NFL Draft. The New York Giants liked his potential to complement Odell Beckham Jr. and be another big-yard target for Eli Manning, so they selected him in the second round. So far, it is a move that has worked out well for them.

Out of camp last year, Shepard earned himself a starting wide receiver job. He was targeted 105 times and finished second on the team with 65 receptions, 683 receiving yards and eight touchdown grabs. In his second career NFL game, he had eight receptions on eight targets for 117 yards against the New Orleans Saints. It was his top performance of his rookie year.

Prior to the 2017 campaign, the Giants went out and picked up Brandon Marshall, which should diminish Shepard’s role a bit this season. Nonetheless, he will still be a valuable contributor to the Giants—especially if there are any injuries.