Sterling Shepard Has Saved Bucs
September 27th, 2025
Two years ago, Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield coaxed his old pal and former Sooners teammate Sterling Shepard off the couch to join the Bucs. Mayfield thought Shepard had some juice left.
Drafted in the second round by the Giants in 2018, Shepard’s last couple of seasons in New Jersey were marred by injuries. It looked like maybe he was done with the NFL.
While Shepard initially didn’t make the 53-man squad, the Bucs kept him on the practice squad and he was soon elevated to the active roster.
As it turned out, Shepard has saved the Bucs. Because the team has been hammered by injuries at receiver the past two seasons, Shepard has played an important role, if only has a piece of stability for Mayfield.
This year the same thing has happened: Receivers have been injured and Shepard has provided a reliable veteran presence for Mayfield to lean on.
How reliable has Shepard been this year? Through three games, Sterling has the second-highest first down per target rate (60 percent) of all wide receivers with at least 15 targets.
With Mike Evans out for a couple of weeks, and we’re not sure what Chris Godwin’s status is for the Eagles game on Sunday, Shepard will probably play an important role again this weekend.
“The ball, it finds him at the right time,” Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard said this week. “It’s all about the communication with him. It’s really cool to see from him and Baker [Mayfield] just because they’ve been doing it so long, going all the way back to Oklahoma, that they’re on the same page.
“They can just look at each other and know exactly what the other one’s thinking.”
Shepard may be past his prime. He probably has seen better days. Once upon a time with the Giants he would get over 100 targets in a season. Those days are long gone.
Still, with the Bucs always banged up with injuries, Shepard provides Mayfield with some security knowing he still has someone he can trust when he drops back to pass.
September 27th, 2025 at 12:11 am
Dude is one of my favorite players on the team. He’s all energy all the time. He’s a great teammate. He makes plays. He’s a Dog fighting out there for his team. Thank you to the NY Littles for letting a good one walk away. We will.gladly take him!. Go BUCS
September 27th, 2025 at 12:19 am
Through three games, Sterling has the second-highest first down per target rate (60 percent) of all wide receivers with at least 15 targets.
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Is this just for us, or is this a league wide stat?
Either way, happy to have him on the team. He’s definitely putting it all out there!
September 27th, 2025 at 12:28 am
He’s got that Baker energy, which helps everyone.
September 27th, 2025 at 1:01 am
Good point!
September 27th, 2025 at 1:23 am
Yeah he is an extension of Bakers moxy. He really plays tough and the big moments aren’t too big for him. I really great pickup and he’s been much better than I thought he’d be. Our receivers room is just crazy good.
September 27th, 2025 at 1:39 am
He is still the best route runner on the Bucs ,,,,, he is a stud and it’s only his jackassahtude and injuries that have kept him from being a #1/ 1B ………NFL teams don’t like unpredictable players that are not top 5 at position …….. great find by Baker but he is an angry emotional disaster waiting to happen and his agent must have zero control ………. an FYI, he looks to be as fast / quick and in as good as shape as he has been and his whole career…….. if you were to put ship one on one with quarterbacks along with double E and Chris Godwin, he would not finish third in the competition many times…… just give a borderline attitude and anger receiver, some props
September 27th, 2025 at 2:00 am
Not only that, but I have seen many clips of him, in game, praising and hyping up his teammates. Particularly Mike Evans and Egbuka. The guy comes off as genuine, likable and a great teammate. Not to mention he’s playing great. Very happy that he’s a Buc.
September 27th, 2025 at 4:08 am
Absolutely love the way that Shep plays the game. No question in my mind why Baker wanted him on the Bucs; he produces & he’s got a passion for the game that rivals Baker’s. Was looking at Shep’s stats thru our 3 games this season (super impressive BTW), and came across a few things I’d never read or heard before, such as …
o Sterling spent 4 years (2012-2015) at the University of Oklahoma, but actually only got to play with Baker in 2015. Shep was definitely Baker’s go-to receiver that year though (86 receptions in 13 games for 1286 yards & 11 TDs). THAT’S PRODUCTION.
o Sterling’s dad, Derrick Shepard, was also a WR, and was also a Sooner (played for them 1983-1986, and was on their 1985 National Championship team). He played for the Redskins (1987-1988), Saints (1989) & Cowboys (1989-1991) for 5 NFL years, coached at a couple of schools after that, and then became a WR coach at the University of Wyoming. He passed away at the age of 35 in 1999 (heart attack playing racquetball).
o Derrick was a punt returner on the 1987 Washington Redskins team that won the Super Bowl … a teammate of Todd Bowles. That Redskins’ defense BTW made 23 interceptions that regular season, plus another 7 INTs in their 3 playoff games. No wonder Todd likes interceptions so much (Todd had 4 INTs that year BTW). Thought that 23 must be a record, but it’s not even close … the 1961 Chargers had 49 INTs.
September 27th, 2025 at 4:35 am
Shep is doing great and is definitely reliable. He and Baker do have a long and great connection. So happy he was brought in.
Love the positive comments above about Shep!