Shepherd takes long road to become Jet
Four years ago, Nathan Shepherd was out of college and out of football, bouncing around to different blue-collar jobs in a determined search to renew his dream.
Financial problems had forced the Ontario, Canada native to drop out of Simon Frasier University in British Columbia after the 2012 football season. So Shepherd began to work, first at a plant nursery, then in electrical construction, then at a printing factory, trying to make enough money to return to school and to the game he loves. All along, the defensive lineman never lost hope. “My shot is just around the corner,” he would tell himself, even as months turned into years.
Finally, in the spring of 2015 and after two years away from football, Shepherd had earned enough to enroll at Fort Hays State in central Kansas. He walked onto its Division II team. And after three standout season for the Tigers, he popped onto the radars of NFL teams, including the Jets and general manager Mike Maccagnan.
On Friday night, Gang Green selected Shepherd with the No. 72 overall pick, in the third round. And a winding, inspirational path ended at the National Football League.
“I’m on cloud nine,” Shepherd said on a conference call. “It’s been a phenomenal experience, and I just can’t wait to see what happens from here.”
Shepherd, 24, will provide the Jets with a massive body up front, standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 315 pounds. He is older than most prospects coming out of college, turning 25 in early October, but Maccagnan and head coach Todd Bowles were undeterred by that.
“I really don’t feel he’s too old of an investment for a draft pick,” Maccagnan said.
Shepherd will play 3-4 defensive end for the Jets, helping fill the hole left by Muhammad Wilkerson, who was cut after the season. Bowles expects Shepherd to play immediately on the defensive line this year, despite his raw tools and lack of experience against elite competition.
“I definitely believe he’s a lot more pro ready than a lot of people think,” Bowles said. “When they say raw, they don’t mean years away. He may need some weeks or even camp or training camp, but he’ll definitely play in the rotation.”
“He has a bit of a different story than most guys,” Maccagnan said. “But he is, we felt, a very talented guy with a lot of upside.”
As a high-schooler in Ajax, Ontario, Shepherd weighed 205 pounds and played predominantly linebacker. But he shifted to defensive line after arriving at Simon Frasier because his mentor, Gerry Martinez, suggested that would provide him the best opportunity to be successful at the college level. Shepherd redshirted as a freshman, adding 45 pounds that season. He then totaled 20 tackles, 2.5 sacks and seven tackles for loss in nine games in 2012.
But then came the financial road bumps. No longer able to afford his education — Simon Frasier only offered partial scholarships — Shepherd had to walk away from the game.
“Honestly, it brought me to the point where I had to look myself in the mirror and decide how much football meant to me,” Shepherd said. “It was just one of those loves that I couldn’t get over, so it just became a matter of, do whatever you have to do to make your dreams come true.”
Shepherd achieved that goal while attending school in the middle of nowhere. But in today’s NFL, with the amount of time and energy put into scouting players, if you’re good enough, they will find you.
In his senior season at Fort Hays St. this past fall, Shepherd finished with 38 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, and four sacks. He then shot up draft boards after a strong showing in the scouting process, including at the Combine, where he ran a 5.09 40-yard dash — the same time as Ndamukong Suh.
Maccagnan said he became aware of Shepherd through his scouts. Then the GM got his initial first-hand exposure to Shepherd in the Senior Bowl, where he did “quite well” in practices before missing the game because of a broken hand.
“These are the guys that you kind of get excited about,” Maccagnan said. “We think he has a lot of potential, but not only that, (also) the character and work ethic to fulfill it.”