Sixty-three days to the NFL Hall Of Fame Game on August 6th which could be considered the unofficial start of the NFL season. The number 63 is the number of touches that Sterling Shepard had in 2019. It was the second most touches on the Giants trailing only Saquon Barkley. This even though Shepard played only ten games due to concussion injury. He had slightly lower snap count percent than Golden Tate who played only one more game due to suspension. Shepard’s snap count percent was almost 10% lower than Darius Slayton. Still Shepard is a go to receiver as he had only one less target than Slayton and two less than Tate.
Shepard made the most of his targets with a 68.7% catch rate. That was the highest among Giant wide receivers and 20th best in the league among wide receivers. Shepard is one of only 19 active wide receivers that have a career 2500+ receiving yards and a 65% catch rate with 7.5+ yards per target. Shepard’s 1.2% drop rate in 2019 was the sixth lowest among wide receivers in the league. Besides being a reliable target, Shepard protects the ball. He is one of only five wide receivers that over the last four seasons had 250+ touches and two or less fumbles.
Add in that Shepard is good at moving the sticks. He has a 40.2% first down to target/attempt percentage over the last two seasons. That is tops on the Giants. His 1,553 yards from scrimmage over the last two seasons is only topped by Saquon Barkley on the Giants. Shepard contributes to a Giant team that is one of only ten teams that for 2020 have four players that in 2019 on average made first down on at least 1 in 3 of their targets. Since coming into the league in 2016 Shepard is 16th in the league in 3rd down catches that result in a first down. This even though he has missed 11 games over those four years.
