FAB 5. SR’s BUC SHOTS
• On Wednesday, Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston went out of his way to lavish praise on special teams captain and wide receiver Russell Shepard, who had a career day against San Francisco and caught one of Winston’s three touchdown passes.

“What makes ‘Shep’ so special is, he’s different,” Winston said. “And when you’re different, you stand out. He’s different. You can ask, ‘How is he different?’ He’s a different person. The way that he thinks, the way that he works, the way that he applies his technique. He’s a hard worker, he has tremendous heart, he has tremendous passion and that’s one thing that you can say about Shep. He’s different and when you’re different, that makes you successful. He’s just a great player for us. He’s one of our main guys. You all probably just asked me about him because he scored a touchdown, this weekend was a big game [for him], but if you look at film week in and week out, he’s going to show up and he’s going to be one of our key players.”

Bucs WR Russell Shepard was a top-rated high school QB – Photo by: Getty Images

Winston said that Shepard was one of the top quarterbacks in the country when he was in high school.

“’Shep’ was one of my favorite players and I used to watch one of his videos where he had his hat backwards, he was doing some footwork drills,” Winston said. “Russell Shepard, he was the number one dual threat quarterback coming out of high school, so I looked up to Shep.”

The 6-foot-1, 187-pound Shepard wasn’t big enough to play quarterback at LSU, so he was moved to wide receiver outside of the occasion rep as a Wildcat quarterback where he rushed for 716 yards and four touchdowns on 106 carries (6.9 avg.). Stuck behind Rueben Randle and Brandon LaFell and then Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry, Shepard didn’t see much action as a receiver at LSU. He caught just 58 passes for 570 yards and five touchdowns in his Tigers career and he’s still developing as a receiver.

“It’s my second year in the offense, and since I’ve been at LSU I’ve been through almost 10 different offenses,” Shepard said. “So going through an offense with [former Eagles Head Coach] Chip [Kelly] my rookie year, going through certain things with [former Buccaneers Head Coach Greg] Schiano, there’s different offenses we learn. You learn how to learn. The biggest thing is you just come out, you get reps. The biggest thing I will say about Dirk’s offense and his practice schedule, it gives other guys an opportunity to get reps and that’s probably been the biggest thing in my career thus far is being able to get enough reps to make up for not playing as much receiver.”

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• Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter took a shot at some of the nerdy stat websites (yeah!) like ProFootballFocus.com – without mentioning them by name – on Wednesday when talking about the play of his offensive line. I’ve had some Twitter wars with PFF before over their supposed rankings of players like middle linebacker Kwon Alexander and how PFF rated Tampa Bay’s offensive line one of the five worst units in the league. Koetter helped return fire during his press conference.

“You know, I’ve always – since I came here over a year ago – I’ve always said, ‘Our O-line gets beat up way more than they deserve,’” Koetter said. “There’s plenty of teams that have O-line issues and we feel like we have pretty decent depth on our O-line all the way down – knock on wood – all the way down into our practice squad. We feel good about the guys we’ve got and they’re playing well together. I give credit to [run game coordinator/offensive line] George [Warhop], [assistant offensive line] Butch [Barry] who work with them every day, but I give credit to those guys. We’ve got good leadership in the room, those guys are playing hard.

Bucs LT Donovan Smith and C Joe Hawley – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“I know there are the critics out there that have their own grading scale, the mysterious grading scale. We look at our own grading scale. We’re going to grade them how – because we know what they are supposed to be doing every play. Other people that grade them, how do you grade someone when you don’t know what they are supposed to do? But, I think – I’ve always thought – our O-line, they play hard, they play together. They’re not perfect, but I’ll take them on my team any day.”

• One thing that has helped rookie Caleb Benenoch’s transition from college to pro and moving all the way across the country from Los Angeles to Tampa is having a fellow UCLA Bruin in the locker room in cornerback Alterraun Verner. Although the two weren’t teammates as Verner is five years older, Benenoch’s adjustment to living on the East Coast and playing in the NFL has gone smoother seeing a familiar face.

“I love having Alterraun here – another Bruin,” Benenoch said. “We talk about the [UCLA] games and we hurt together when we lose and we celebrate together when we win. It’s fun not to be alone out here and have a college teammate here in the locker room with me.”

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• Speaking of comments, be sure to leave your comments about this week’s SR’s Fab 5 column right here as they might be used for next week’s SR’s Fab 5 Reaction, which comes out each Wednesday on PewterReport.com. SR’s Fab 5 Reaction is where I get to comment on your comments, answer questions and further the discussion from the previous week’s SR’s Fab 5 column. Check out the latest SR’s Fab 5 Reaction right here.

South Pasco Predators Pee Wee team

• I’d like to thank Bucs Pro Bowl linebacker Lavonte David for coming out to visit both of my sons’ playoff-bound South Pasco Predators Pop Warner football teams on Thursday night. Logan’s Pee Wee team (ages 11-12), where I coach the defensive line,  is 7-1 on the season. Caden’s JV team (ages 12-13) is 5-3 and made the playoffs Tuesday night with a play-in victory to break a three-way tie for two playoff berths.

David addressed the teams and talked about the importance of rising to the occasion in big games, such as the playoffs, watching film and using proper tackling technique. The Predators wished David good luck against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday and thanked him for coming out and speaking to the teams.

South Pasco Predators Junior Varsity team

• I had the chance to catch up with injured Bucs defensive end Jacquies Smith, Tampa Bay’s second-leading sacker the last two years, recently at One Buc Place to check out how his rehab is coming along from a torn ACL he suffered in the first quarter at Atlanta in Week 1.

“I’m making progress every day and taking it day by day,” Smith said. “Obviously, I’ve got a long road ahead of myself, but I’m a fighter and I’ll continue to attack. I’ll be back better than ever.”

Smith led the Bucs in preseason sacks with three and was poised to have a big year if not for the injury in the 2016 season opener, which the Bucs won 31-24.

“It was very frustrating for me,” Smith said. “It was a long flight home for me. I know a lot of the guys were excited and happy, but that was probably one of the longest flights home I’ve ever had. I worked hard this offseason and did everything I needed to do and it can happen in the blink of an eye. I hate that I can’t be out there helping the guys out. Obviously, I’m behind the scenes talking to the guys, but not being about there helping to produce … it’s tough.”

Smith is excited to see three young rookies step up and fill in for him and injured starter Robert Ayers.

“We have young guys stepping up and fighting hard for team,” Smith said. “Guys like Channing Ward, DaVonte Lambert and Noah – I talk to those guys a lot and try to give them every piece of wisdom that can help them out. I’m proud of the way they continue to fight. I’m happy to see that.”

Smith will be happy to take the field again next summer and prepare for the 2017 season and make up for lost time, too.