LSU's Russell Shepard ready to be a major playmaker

He will be on the football field for LSU in 2010. That was not the case through most of his true freshman season in 2009 as he usually made only cameo appearances and did not touch the ball in two of the Tigers' biggest games, losses to No. 1 Florida and to Penn State in the Capital One Bowl. Still, he led LSU in yards per carry with 6.2 and was the team's No. 3 rusher with 277 yards on 45 carries as a quarterback, tailback and receiver. He also led LSU in yards per catch with 16.4, but he had only five receptions for 34 yards. That was then, and this is now, a full-time slot receiver with just bit parts expected at quarterback and tailback ."Now that he is in the receiving corps, it allows him to be on the field routinely," LSU coach Les Miles said. "He still goes through a throwing regiment, still has the ability to learn to throw. But now he will be on the field the entire time. I think it's better than what we had. Frankly, had we used a different approach to him right away, it may well have gotten him to the field quicker. That was really the mistake, giving him a lot of time at quarterback last year. We should well have put him at receiver first."