Sterling Shepard Makes a Giant First Impression on NYG’s Eli Manning

You only get one chance to make a good first impression, and former Sooner wide receiver Sterling Shepard did just that in his first official rookie workout as a New York Giant.

The New York Giants drafted Shepard in the second round of this year’s NFL Draft with the 40th overall selection in the draft. The Giants are banking that the shifty, sure-handed All-Big 12 receiver out of Oklahoma will be a solid complement to Giant receivers Victor Cruz and Odell Beckham, Jr., who formed the nucleus of what was the seventh-best team in the NFL last season in pass-receiving yards.

Giant quarterback Eli Manning got to see his team’s second-round draft pick live and in person on Monday and play some solo pitch and catch with Shepard in a short workout with no defense or any competition on the field. Manning told New York Post staff writer Paul Schwartz that it was way too early to judge what kind of player Shepard might be at the next level, but he acknowledged that he liked what he saw from the rookie receiver in the short time they were together on Monday.

“It’s tough to tell from six routes on air,” Manning said in the NY Post article. “He’s a guy who’s shifty and athletic. He seemed to catch the ball very naturally and run routes. I’m excited to get to work with him and see what he can do.”

The Giants’ team website quoted Beckham as saying, “We stole one…,” in reference to the selection of Shepard with the 40th pick in the draft.

Time will certainly tell, but so far, so good as OU’s No. 2 receiver all-time makes the transition from college ball to the NFL, following in the footsteps of his late father, Derrick Shepard, who went on to play several seasons at the next level after a brilliant career as a wide receiver at Oklahoma.