How undrafted Saints WR Rashid Shaheed became a rookie revelation

By Greg Auman
Published

The acceleration of Rashid Shaheed's NFL career in the past two months is no surprise to anyone who watched him play at Weber State for five years.

The same player who returned seven kickoffs for touchdowns in college — matching the most in NCAA history — has found open field in the NFL and is showing off his speed again.

"It's been a dream," said Shaheed, 24, after practice Wednesday afternoon. "So early on as a young rookie, I've been able to earn the trust of the coaches and the quarterbacks. Everything has fallen into place perfectly, and I couldn't ask for it to be any better."

Largely because of a second ACL injury at the end of last season, Shaheed was passed over in this year's draft, but the Saints recognized his talent. Limited to only five draft picks, New Orleans offered Shaheed a $15,000 signing bonus, but also guaranteed him $207,000 — a full season of rookie practice-squad pay — which was more guaranteed money than any sixth-round pick received this season.

Coming off ACL surgery last December, Shaheed couldn't run at pro day or showcase himself for scouts, wasn't ready to practice when training camp started or play in any preseason games. So he was among the Saints' final cuts, brought back on their practice squad. But when returner Deonte Harty was lost to a toe injury in October, Shaheed was elevated from the practice squad and made an immediate impact.

His first NFL touch was a 44-yard touchdown run on a jet sweep against the Bengals, and his second was a 53-yard touchdown catch on a pass from Andy Dalton against the Cardinals. Shaheed's offensive role has consistently expanded — after no more than 15 snaps in his first five games, he has been bumped up to 28, 30, 36 and 39 snaps in the past four games.

His contributions on the field have matched that rise: 53 yards against the 49ers, 75 yards against the Bucs and then 95 yards in New Orleans' win Sunday over the Falcons, highlighted by a 68-yard touchdown. There were 28 receivers drafted this year, and since arriving in the NFL in Week 6, Shaheed's 334 receiving yards rank sixth among rookie receivers.

"The first couple of weeks of the season, I was kind of getting a feel for it, getting back to full-speed reps," he said. "It was my first time playing football in about 11 months, and it took me a while. The coaches knew that and tried to ease me back. They gave me a chance to learn the offense and sit back. After that Bengals game, my understanding of the offense has just taken off, and it's been great ever since."

His big-play ability puts him among not just the NFL's best rookies, but receivers, period. His average of 22.3 yards per catch is the most in the league this season for any player with at least 15 catches. And in the past decade, only one other NFL player has averaged that much per catch over that many catches over an entire season — DeSean Jackson last year with the Rams.

For a Saints team facing tough challenges ahead with the salary cap, finding a talented playmaker without even using a draft pick is the kind of value acquisition they need. The Saints found a prospect the rest of the league — and its pundits — had overlooked. A small-school receiver with no more than five touchdown catches in a season faces tough odds to begin with, and the second knee surgery took him further off the draft's overall radar. The Athletic's Dane Brugler, who publishes a comprehensively deep and thorough draft guide each year, had Shaheed ranked as the 190th-best receiver in the draft, enough for each NFL team to take five rookie receivers before getting to him.

The Saints liked Shaheed enough that they were calling him during the draft, reiterating their interest even though they didn't have a selection in the final 60 picks. He had built a good relationship with Saints special-teams coordinator Darren Rizzi in the draft process, and by the time their offer came in, Shaheed says it was "a no-brainer" to sign with New Orleans.

That he would make a big splash as an NFL rookie is no surprise to Jay Hill, who coached him at Weber State and is now defensive coordinator at BYU. Shaheed's first college game, played to fewer than 9,000 fans, was a 76-0 win over Montana Western, and Shaheed scored a touchdown on a 67-yard run. His next game, on a much larger stage at Cal, saw him catch a 55-yard touchdown pass, showing he could beat defenders at the highest level of college football.

"I love seeing that smile. The kid loves the game," Hill said. "He loves life, and he was super-fun for us to coach because he always had a smile on his face. He's a humble kid. He knows he's fast and talented, but you never really see that come out. He was always hungry to continue to get better. We knew he was super-talented, right from the get-go."

Shaheed's particular penchant for touchdowns on kickoff returns gave him a share of college football's career record, his seven matching the likes of Cowboys running back Tony Pollard and Seahawks running back Rashaad Penny. Shaheed's came against smaller schools like Portland State and Idaho State, but also against a Pac-12 champ in Utah last season.

"I really believe he would have been a draft pick had he not blown his ACL," Hill said. "There were enough teams that liked him, but you blow your ACL, there's indecision on, Is this kid ever going to come back to normal? 

"I told so many scouts, 'I promise you, this kid's ready to go as a kick returner right now, but trust me when I say he is going to shock a wide receiver coach. They're going to get him in the room, and they'll see this kid is great. Fast in and out of cuts, and he's got way better hands than people have given him credit for.' I told them: ‘Your wide receiver coach is going to love this guy.’"

Shaheed's growth and emergence is just beginning in New Orleans, and given the uncertainty with which his year began, it's thrilling for him to be not only contributing but making plays for a Saints team that is still just one game back of the NFC South lead with three weeks to play. 

"Thankfully, I've been able to make a couple of plays for the team, and when you do that, the coaches put you in the right situations and all I have to do is make the plays," he said. "It's coming in the craziest of ways. I wasn't expecting for all of this to happen the way it has, but it's been my dream."

Top stories from FOX Sports:

Greg Auman is FOX Sports’ NFC South reporter, covering the Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers and Saints. He is in his 10th season covering the Bucs and the NFL full-time, having spent time at the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.