Windy City Gridiron
WCG’s lead draft analyst spoke with Maryland’s intriguing star cornerback.
With an All-AAC and All-Big Ten nominations, a Hula Bowl invite, a Shrine Bowl invite, and a College Football Playoff appearance, there’s a pretty accomplished resume for Maryland cornerback Ja’Quan Sheppard.
The last two seasons have especially been productive for Sheppard, having tallied 18 pass deflections between his final season at Cincinnati and his lone year at Maryland. As one of the most physical cornerbacks in this year’s class, he figures to be a likely draft pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Windy City Gridiron spoke with Sheppard about his performances in the all-star circuit, being a part of a playoff team, his pre-snap approach, and more.
JS: Well, at first, I didn’t have [any invitations], so I was kind of stressed and kind of confused, obviously. That was the one thing that, when I got my Hula Bowl invite, I just needed to get an opportunity to showcase my talent against some of the best. I received my opportunity, I prevailed with that opportunity to go to the Hula Bowl, showing I can showcase my talent and skills, and how I talk [to teams] and things of that sort. It was a blessing for me to go on that, and then being good enough to actually get another invite — which was not surprising to myself, but to a lot of people, maybe — but it was a blessing, as well. I was excited, for sure. I came in like it was a game. I always prepared the right way, focused on the things I needed to focus on. I didn’t really talk a lot, for real. I really was just trying to focus on trying to showcase who I am and how I play things, and I met a lot of people, so it was a good time there.
JS: That was a stressful blessing, I will say. Being that it’s been four years knowing the [Cincinnati] program, knowing the ins and outs and how everything works, I was comfortable, obviously. Transferring, I was excited for the opportunity, and when I got there, everybody welcomed me with open arms. It was strictly football, learning a new system, learning coaches, and just building relationships. That wasn’t hard for me; I’m a locker room type of guy, so it was easy for me to get along [with teammates]. I’d say the hardest thing was me going from one system, where we play strictly this and that, to go into a system that we play a lot of NFL-based defenses. I got exposed to a lot of things. That’s why I say it was a stressful blessing, because at...
