GIANTS EXPECT SHEPARD TO MAKE INSTANT IMPACT
The tweet from Odell Beckham Jr. didn’t catch Sterling Shepard off guard. There was no surprise at all, actually.
If anything, Shepard was sort of expecting the challenge.
“1306,” Beckham wrote in code between New York Giants teammates, a reference to his receiving yardage during his record-setting rookie season two years ago — plus 1 yard. “Don’t forget.”
Shepard certainly has not, he insisted, embracing the motivational gauntlet from Beckham while promising to do his best to follow his lead.
“We had already talked about it (during spring workouts), and he had told me he wanted me to go get that number, to strive to go get it,” Shepard recalled with a smile. “It’s a challenge but gives me a bar to set, and, when you set a bar, you want to set it really high. And that’s pretty darn high.
“If I get anywhere near that, I feel like it’s going to be a good season.”
The Giants can only hope, and in reality there is continued reason for optimism with Beckham, Shepard and Victor Cruz all on the field together.
With Tom Coughlin as head coach over the past 12 seasons, younger players often would have to prove themselves worthy of the NFL before earning opportunities ahead of vets.
That perceived philosophy began trending in the opposite direction in recent years with players such as Justin Pugh, Beckham, Weston Richburg, Ereck Flowers and Landon Collins jumping right into the starting lineup — some out of necessity and in the case of Richburg at left guard and not his most comfortable position of center, where he now is an anchor of the offensive line.
As Coughlin’s successor, Giants coach Ben McAdoo was asked how long it would take for rookies to earn his trust.
“I trust them right now,” McAdoo said. “We’re not going to be afraid to play young players here.”
First-round pick Eli Apple rotated in with the first team with starting corners Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Janoris Jenkins outside. Third-round pick Darian Thompson has been with the first-team defense at safety alongside Collins since the spring. And fourth-round pick B.J. Goodson is competing for the starting middle linebacker job.
“We are really close,” Apple said, referring to Shepard, Thompson and himself. “We always talk about what we can do to help this team out. We are talented and we know that, so we are just trying to push each other every day.”
Shepard has already opened eyes with exceptional route running, good hands in traffic and breakaway speed. His humility makes the second-round pick from Oklahoma the ideal fit in an offense that features the established star power of Beckham, Cruz and Eli Manning.
Talent doesn’t hurt, of course, and Shepard has a lot of that.
Practice opened with Shepard lined up wide right and Beckham split wide left with Cruz in the slot. Cruz’s comeback after missing 26 games over the last two seasons because of knee and calf surgeries continued with his second consecutive strong practice without limitation.
When Shepard ran the wrong route during a two-minute drill, there was no ridicule from the sideline. Instead, Beckham and Manning went over the details with Shepard, making sure he understood the right call.
“This group is not really about yelling. There’s not much yelling going on. It’s just coaching you up and just trying to get you right the next time,” Shepard said.
“A big thing with me is trying not to make the same mistake twice, so if something does happen, just be able to correct it and be a pro about it.”
Stapleton writes for The (Bergen County, N.J.) Record, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK.