Predicting the NY Giants wide receiver depth chart

WR2: Sterling Shepard

You’d be hard-pressed to find any NY Giants fan that has a bad word to say about Sterling Shepard, and that’s for good reason. Shepard lays it all on the line, has played through numerous injuries – even in training camp – and is an all-around good guy for the locker room.

It’s not his fault he only grew to be 5’10” and then his GM decided to bring in an extremely redundant player in Golden Tate to pair with him in the starting lineup.

Dave Gettleman showed good faith in retaining Shepard even though he was a Jerry Reese draft pick, something many others didn’t get the benefit of, and the talented wideout was handsomely rewarded with a four year/$40M contract.

A bit above what he deserved in my opinion as he has yet to surpass 70 catches or 900 yards in any of his four seasons, although he did haul in an impressive 8 touchdowns in his rookie year. Injuries are a real concern moving forward, especially since Shepard’s are of the concussion variety.

Should he be fully healthy in 2020, I expect big things from him in Jason Garrett’s offense, and that contract may end up looking like a bargain as you should pay for what you’re going to get, not for what you’ve already gotten.

Still just 27, Shepard has plenty of time to prove he was worthy of his contract extension and should be a major factor in the return to respectability for the NY Giants.