Buccaneers' Free Agent Decision Report: Russell Shepard

Should the Buccaneers bring back Russell Shepard?

More from The Pewter Plank

Other than for the Patriots and the Falcons it’s the off-season, so that means it’s speculation time for the Buccaneers. Jason Licht and company are already hard at work planning how to build this team for the future. There is film to review and decisions to make.

The decisions begin with the in-house free agents, and the Bucs have a lot of them. The number of unrestricted free agents is 17 to be exact (per Spotrac). That’s a lot of players to make decisions about before moving to players outside of the organization.

So as always, we are going to guide Jason Licht and help him with his decisions.

We have begun these discussions already, with our most recent one covering Vincent Jackson. Today we stay on the offensive side of the ball to talk about Russell Shepard.

Why Shepard Should Stay

With the lack of depth at the position, Shepard had the opportunity to become an important piece of the puzzle. To his credit, he posted career numbers. 23 receptions, 341 yards and two touchdowns aren’t impressive, but they were good for the third-best numbers on the team for a wide receiver. Add that to the fact that the resounding belief is that Adam Humphries is only a slot receiver, and you have some real promise here.

His best day came against the 49ers, when he caught five out of six targets for 77 yards and a touchdown. The score came late in the second quarter and put the Bucs ahead to stay. He caught 57.5% of his targets, which isn’t a bad number for a player that served as part of the depth chart.

Let’s think back to that depth chart while we are on the subject. We all know it, so I will say it. It’s not very good. Behind Mike Evans and Humphries, there currently isn’t very much. It might be a smart idea to hang onto a player that has shown ability in limited action. He’s also only 26 years old. He has a lot of years ahead of him.

Sep 18, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Russell Shepard (89) looks on against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals won 40-7. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Why Shepard Should Go

Although he did spend time as a captain, Shepard didn’t earn a great deal of trust from the offensive staff? How do I know this? Per Pro Football Focus, he was only on the field for 433 snaps, as opposed to Evans, who was on the line of scrimmage for 949 snaps. Why is this? Was he not looking so good in practice? The numbers weren’t bad, but there must be some reason he didn’t see the field all that often.

Maybe it is because the majority of his yardage came over three games. He put up 192 of his 341 yards in games against the 49ers, Chiefs, and Saints. That would leave Shepard with 12 catches for 149 yards if you take out those games. The rest of the season he did very little, or nothing. It could be that he just wasn’t open very often.

One could argue that it simply isn’t necessary to keep another mediocre wide receiver around, even if he is 26.

Jan 15, 2016; Tampa Bay, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneer general manager Jason Licht , co-chairman Edward Glazer , head coach Dirk Koetter, co-chairman Joel Glazer , co-chairman Bryan Glazer pose for a photo as they introduce Koetter as the new head coach at One Buccaneer Place Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Decision

There are arguments on both sides of the coin. Are we looking for quality or quantity as we head towards 2017?

On the one hand, Shepard put it some terrific individual performances. He did step up when others wouldn’t and became a viable option for Jameis Winston. He caught over half of his targets, and is only 26 years old. He shouldn’t command much money at this point in his career. They could do worse than keeping him around a bit longer.

But, he didn’t have a great season overall. His numbers were compressed into three performances. Without those, we wouldn’t have even noticed Shepard all that much. The depth chart already has mediocre receivers on it, they could stand to get rid of another mediocre receiver, right?

There are weapons to be had in this category, no doubt. But to me, it’s always good to hang onto young players, at any position.

DECISION: RE-SIGN RUSSELL SHEPARD

Agree? Sound off in the comments.