New York Jets week one spotlight: Nathan Shepherd
As we move into the regular season, we are going to profile an important player and his role in the New York Jets game. This week it’s Nathan Shepherd.
After all of the talk and all of the hype all summer long, the New York Jets have a game upcoming. Monday night they take on the Detroit Lions.
Each week of the season, we are going to look at one player important to the game. We will profile him and his role in the Jets having a chance to win.
In week one, we take a look at an older rookie that has popped on the scene from Canada originally. He has taken the coaches by storm and now looks to be starter along the defensive line.
Of course we are talking about Nathan Shepherd.
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You all know his story by now. He started out in Canada at Simon Fraser University.
He ended up at Fort Hays St here in America and turned heads with his performance at the 2018 Senior Bowl practices.
Shepherd ended up in New York as the third round draft pick and per the latest depth chart, will be starting on Monday night opposite Leonard Williams.
He will be thrown right into the fire when he takes the field to face the Lions.
LeGarrette Blount will be standing behind Matthew Stafford and he is a tough man to face.
Blount is tough to bring down. Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), 713 out of 896 yards came after first contact.
The year prior, 831 out of 1,270 yards came after first contact.
Next. Three to watch vs Detroit. dark
Blount has to be brought down hard and Shepherd will be among the group being asked to do it.
Blount likes to run in the A gaps. Last season 92 of his runs were in said gaps for 385 yards, an average of 4.18 yards per carry.
This is the area of the line that a big guy like Shepherd will be responsible for defending. At 6-4, 315 pounds Shepherd is actually a touch bigger than Steve McLendon who weighs in at 310 pounds.
Shepherd will be asked to make stops in the run game as well as occupy multiple linemen, freeing others to make plays.
Quite the opening gig for Mr. Shepherd.