Russell Shepard

Buccaneers: The Emerging Play of Russell Shepard

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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We take a film breakdown look at Russell Shepard and his production as the Buccaneers’ potential second wide receiver.

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We know how lucky the Buccaneers are to have Mike Evans on their side. He seems to have cured his drop problems in 2016 and continues his ascent to “elite” status.

It’s also clear that they need production from the opposite side of the field. With Vincent Jackson on IR, we discussed the topic of replacing his production in last week’s roundtable.

Some of you responded by telling us that Jackson hadn’t done very much to begin with in 2016.

Point taken.

But the issue is still an important one. If the Bucs only have Evans producing on the outside, he will eventually stop getting open looks. He will see double teams all day long and the offense will suffer.

Yesterday, James Yarcho talked about Russell Shepard and how he has begun to step up. The “Eye in the Sky” agrees. Join the Eye as we look at the tape from last week, specifically, two of Shepard’s receptions, courtesy of NFL Game Pass (subscription required).

They both come from the second quarter, the first being an important third down conversion.

Here the Bucs line up third and three from their own 30 yard line. Jameis Winston is lined up in the shotgun, with Shepard lined up wide to the left, at the bottom of the screen. In the next picture, watch how the defender lines up pre-snap.

See how the defender is just one yard off of the line of scrimmage? That tells Winston and Shepard that he has man to man coverage. If he had dropped off the line it would be a zone. He’s one on one, and the guy is going to press.

Shepard is going to run an in-cut, following the red arrow.

We fast forward to the inside move by Shepard. Winston is releasing the ball on the break just like he should. Notice in the circle that the defender is all over him. It’s a very small window for Jameis and a tough catch to be made by Shepard.

It’s blurry as the camera moves with Shepard, but this is Russell making the catch. The defender is basically on his back, but Shep comes up with the ball and the conversion.

Now THAT’S a receiver that you can count on when they make a catch like that.

Let’s move ahead to our second play, the touchdown catch by Shepard.

The Bucs are just on the edge of the red zone, lined up at the 49ers’ 20 yard line. This time, Winston is in the “pistol” formation, with Shepard lined up wide to the right. The defensive backs are playing off of the line, indicating a zone coverage.

On the snap, Russell will run a “corner-post” route. He starts out by running towards the corner of the end zone, and then breaks for the goal post. Winston fakes a handoff to Jacquizz Rodgers to buy some time.

Here is Shepard making his move to the corner, into the territory of the cornerback. Notice how the two defenders in the play are a bit shallow compared to Russell? The safety has back pedaled far enough, instead trying to follow Shepard by turning. Shepard is basically selling the corner route by running with authority. When Shep breaks to the post, watch how out of position the safety is.

Russell makes his break to the post. If you look, he is at about the five yard line, while the safety is at around the eight. That renders him totally out of position to get back to the end zone. Time for a great throw from our young quarterback.

Winston makes a perfect throw, over the safety’s head and perfectly placed in front of the cornerback. After running a perfect route, Shepard catches the ball at its highest point and brings it home for six!

The Bucs may not have to look very far for production on the outside opposite Evans. He may be right here already playing for us.

Tune in next week for more from the “Eye in the Sky”.

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Russell Shepard

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

National Football League