After playing in the 250-255 range as a rookie in 2011, Kelvin Sheppard has slimmed down to 240 pounds this offseason in attempt to play on every down and stay in for sub packages in his 2nd season in the league. Sheppard weighed in at 244 at The Combine before the 2011 NFL Draft and played most of last season overweight after being drafted in the 3rd round in the 2011 NFL Draft out of LSU.
Sheppard played very well as a rookie in 2011, ranking 19th among middle linebackers against the run on ProFootballFocus, but was one of the worst middle linebackers in coverage (38th out of 50). Now that he’s back in shape, he could emerge as one of the better young linebackers in the league in 2012. He had 70 tackles, including 59 his last 9 games, in a situational role in 2011 and could easily have 100-120 tackles or more in 2012.
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