SEC’s Most Underrated: Malcolm Sheppard
Posted by secsportsline on August 31, 2009
Senior Arkansas DT Malcolm Sheppard is a big guy at 6-2, 295. But he is not that huge for an SEC defensive tackle, and last season he weighed in at a mere 277 lbs as a junior. Whatever he tips the scales at, Sheppard is an anchor for a belabored Arkansas defense that certainly needs one.
Sheppard was named Captain for the second consecutive year in this season’s fall camp, the first Arkansas player to have this two-time honor since 1958. The other defensive captains were DE Adrian Davis and MLB Wendel Davis.
Sheppard gathered an impressive 16 tackles for loss last season, finishing second in the SEC in that statistic. His 7.5 sacks were the most by any defensive tackle in the SEC last year.
While Sheppard was named one of the 40 interior linemen on the Outland Trophy Watch list, after being named to the watchlist for the Bednarik Award. So it’s not fair to say he is being underrated by the very knowledgable position experts at a national level. But amongst SEC fans, he has not gotten the respect he deserves. Maybe it’s because of Arkansas’ weakness as a team, which was exemplified by a three week stretch in which the Hogs were outscored 139-31 by Alabama, Texas, and Florida. Maybe it’s because he is overshadowed by All-SEC first team DLs Terrence Cody, Greg Hardy, and Carlos Dunlap — who coincedentially play for the 3 top-ranked teams in the SEC.
Arkansas returns 8 defensive starters this year and promises to show much improvement. With Ryan Mallett coming in to replace Casey Dick at QB, the offense may also prove more potent. If Arkansas is the SEC’s surprise team of the year, maybe Sheppard will get the All-SEC first-team treatment that he deserves.
