Arkansas DT Malcolm Sheppard (undrafted Rookie)

[nunusguy]

Malcolm Sheppard was one of 16 undrafted rookie free agents to sign with the Texans on May 17. Since that time, the 6-2, 280-pound defensive tackle out of Arkansas has separated himself from the pack.

“Probably the young kid who has surprised me the most through OTAs and everything has been this Sheppard kid that we got from Arkansas,” Texans coach Gary Kubiak said Wednesday, after the final practice of mini-camp. “I’m not trying to put pressure on him or anything, but he’s been a very pleasant surprise. I think he’s going to make a good push for this football team. He’s played extremely hard, very physical, better athlete than we thought coming out. We thought he was going to get drafted but he didn’t, and we were lucky to get him.”
http://www.houstontexans.com/blog/in...p?post_id=1211

[Arky]

Yeah, I was talking him up a bit in another forum. He's good. I caught most of the untelevised Razorback games last year on ESPN360 (now known as ESPN3) and he was a ray of sunshine on a terrible Arkansas defense.

Since then, I've done a little more research on him... One reason he went undrafted was a bad shoulder at the combine. He was the top SEC snub in the draft according to this ESPN guy.

The thing that killed him was a shoulder injury he suffered in the Liberty Bowl. He tore ligaments and didn't undergo surgery. That led to a poor showing at the NFL combine, and as recently as March, Sheppard said the shoulder was still only about 80 percent.

If he gets back to 100 percent, the Houston Texans may have gotten a steal in free agency.

He got an abomination of a penalty on a play in the Florida game last year which says more about what it is like trying to beat Florida and SEC refs. At the time Arkansas was winning and they went on to lose the game no thanks to calls like this. Probably not one of his highlights but it is kinda cool to see the big Florida OL guy go flying...