The Giants brass insist Sterling Shepard was the top player on their board when he was drafted, which is what they always say this time of year, when presenting a unified front is important.
Whether or not that is true, the selection of the wide receiver out of Oklahoma with the ninth pick in the second round of the NFL draft on Friday made it clear rookie coach Ben McAdoo is being given every weapon needed to turn the Giants offense into an unstoppable force.
Defense always had been the identity of the Giants franchise, dating back to Andy Robustelli, Sam Huff, and all the way through Harry Carson, Lawrence Taylor and Michael Strahan. But those are your father’s Giants. There’s a new coach and new identify that’s being openly embraced in East Rutherford. As much as the Giants spent in free agency to rebuild their defense and used two of their first three picks on defensive backs, McAdoo is going to sink or swim with an offense built for Eli Manning to outscore opponents.
The selection of Shepard, a bundle of production as a Sooner, underscores that thinking. The hope is he will quickly develop into the kind of impact player who will team with Odell Beckham Jr. and Victor Cruz to give the Giants one of the NFL’s most dangerous and dynamic receiving corps.
“It’s basketball on grass,” is how Marc Ross, the Giants vice president of player evaluation put it. “It’s not ground-and-pound anymore.”
Naturally, McAdoo was wearing an ear-to-ear grin when the choice was made after seven of the first eight picks in the second round were defensive players.
“We’re fortunate he was on the board where he was,” McAdoo said.
General manager Jerry Reese called Shepard “NFL ready,” which makes sense considering he was a four-year starter at Oklahoma, who earned his degree while catching 233 passes for 3,482 yards and 26 touchdowns. He’s only 5-foot-10, but has a 41-inch vertical leap and big hands.
He also has a big heart, carrying on the legacy of his late father, Derrick Shepard, a wide receiver on OU’s 1985 national championship team who suffered a fatal heart attack at age 35. Sterling Shepard was 6 and became part of the Sooners program, hanging around the locker room and watching games from the sidelines until he was old enough to play.
“He’s a complete player,” McAdoo said. “He’s not a finesse guy by no stretch of the imagination.”
Adding a quality wide receiver was a priority in the draft. Rueben Randle was lost to the Eagles through free agency and it remains unknown whether Cruz will be as productive as he was before knee and calf injuries sidelined him for the last 1 ½ seasons. If Shepard develops as quickly as expected, the Giants will at least have one threat to take some pressure and attention off Beckham.
“Odell is a difference maker,” McAdoo said. “He’s going to be a little bit of everywhere, so the other positions have to have some flexibility.”
McAdoo should be a mad scientist this year, figuring out ways to exploit the talents of Beckham, Cruz and Shepard. The Giants improved from 13th in the league in scoring average (23.8 points per game) in 2014 to eighth in the league last year (26.2). Another bump should be expected with the addition of Shepard, who figures to work mostly from the slot position.
Losing Randle shouldn’t be a big loss. A second-round pick in 2012, he never lived up to expectations. He had a career-high eight touchdowns last year, but his overall production was inconsistent. He would show flashes of greatness then disappear from games, leaving Beckham on his own.
The Giants are hoping Shepard, with his big hands and big heart, will be more dynamic and give McAdoo his basketball team on grass.