Ja’Quan Sheppard stepped into the Maryland defensive back room with big shoes to fill.
The 6-foot-2, 202-pound senior cornerback transferred to Maryland this past offseason after four years at the University of Cincinnati. Sheppard churned out a career year with the Bearcats in 2022, earning first-team All-AAC honors for the first time, and he now joins a Maryland team ripe with expectations.
However, Maryland’s defensive back group lost starting cornerbacks Deonte Banks and Jakorian Bennett to the NFL following the 2022 season. Banks and Bennett were the first pair of Maryland defensive backs taken in the same year in the common-draft era (since 1994).
Sheppard is expected to take over one of the starting cornerback positions, but the situation isn’t new for him. Rather, the cornerback calls it “déjà vu.” Just last season, Sheppard was asked to step up for Cincinnati after All-AAC standouts Sauce Gardner and Coby Bryant headed to the next level.
“I’m a little bit older than last August, I’m a little bit wiser,” Sheppard said. “So I know how to approach this game a little bit more. … I don’t know why I got put in this situation again, but I’m blessed to be in this position again.”
At Cincinnati, Sheppard saw limited playing time during his first three seasons behind Gardner and Bryant, spending most of his time on special teams and as a backup defensive back through his junior year. He took part in two AAC title runs and a trip to the College Football Playoff in 2021.
Following the 2021 season, both Gardner and Bryant entered the NFL Draft. Gardner, the reigning AAC Defensive Player of the Year and a consensus All-American, was taken fourth overall by the New York Jets. Bryant, the winner of the Jim Thorpe Award (given to the best defensive back in college football), was selected in the fourth round by the Seattle Seahawks.
The departure of the two stalwarts left a void in the defensive backfield. Sheppard won a starting role in preseason camp, but there were not many outside expectations for him given the limited playing time he had before. However, Sheppard felt the pressure of having to fill the shoes of the two departed stars.
“Honestly, I did because I knew exactly who I was and how I played, but [fans] didn’t know,” Sheppard said.
Despite the pressure, Sheppard produced his best season yet as the Bearcats finished 9-4. The cornerback started all 12 games, led the team with 10 pass breakups and added 50 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and one sack.
But following the Bearcats’ final regular-season game, Sheppard learned that head coach Luke Fickell was leaving the program. Fickell, who had recruited Sheppard and coached Cincinnati for six years, took the head coaching position at Wisconsin. Unsure of the program’s future and who would be the head coach the following season, Sheppard skipped the Bearcats’ bowl game and entered the transfer portal.
“A lot of leaders left and transferred out and I was just afraid of not being as successful going into my senior season, which would be the most important season for me,” Sheppard said.
The cornerback had committed to Cincinnati as a three-star standout from Zephyrhills High School in Florida, where he split time between wide receiver and defensive back. Sheppard received offers from Cincinnati, Kentucky and Massachusetts, among others, before committing to the Bearcats.
“He loved the game of football, and he enjoyed being coached,” Zephyrhills head coach Nicholas Carroll said. “… He does a lot of learning and he studies a lot of his opponents’ films, a lot of the time on his own behind closed doors.”
By playing behind the two star cornerbacks, Sheppard says he absorbed the “healthy competition” he saw at practice every day. Sheppard remembers constant trash talk between teammates, but they were always there to help each other and tell one another what they needed to do to be better.
Several years after committing to Cincinnati, Sheppard had another decision to make. After about two days of hearing from schools, he decided to focus on the schools that contacted him first rather than build up offers. Maryland stood out to him from the start since he already knew some Florida natives on the roster.
Sheppard’s mother would be able to attend games at SECU Stadium because she lives in the area. The cornerback said he immediately felt welcomed and valued as a player during his official visit to Maryland in December.
The visit went so well that he committed in front of players and coaches while having dinner at head coach Michael Locksley’s house.
“It wasn’t like a secretive commitment. I made it in front of recruits, players, coaches, and dads and moms and in front of everybody,” Sheppard said. “I told [cornerbacks coach Henry Baker], ‘I’m ready, I’m coming here, I’ll be your player,’ and he made a toast.”
Now at Maryland, Sheppard is ready to help the Terps improve on last year’s 8-5 overall record (4-5 in the Big Ten) and help fill the void left behind by Banks and Bennett. Sheppard believes his experience the past year at Cincinnati has relieved the pressure at Maryland considering that it is almost the same situation again.
That wisdom and experience was observed by his new teammates during camp. Senior safety Beau Brade described Sheppard as smart and intellectual both on the field and in the defensive back meeting room, bringing a “dog mentality.”
“He’s a vet, he’s seen a thing or two,” Brade said. “He understands what we’re trying to do and what the end goal is. He brings a veteran mind, he brings leadership, he’s not afraid to speak up — and we need all that.”
With that veteran mentality, Sheppard hopes to see the Terps achieve 10-plus wins for the first time since 2003. The goal aligns with much of what his teammates and coaches expressed at Maryland’s media day. Terps quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa said that anything short of a Big Ten championship would be an unsuccessful season. Locksley agreed with that sentiment, as he sees the program as ready to compete with the rest of the Big Ten.
“We’re now ready to compete for Big Ten championships,” Locksley said. “… I like the way our locker room has come together, that player-driven culture that we’ve been pounding for the last four years. Really, I think you’re starting to see the fruits of the hard work, not just by our staff, but with the players themselves in terms of taking ownership of this team.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Maryland Athletics
Issue 282: August/September 2023
Originally published Aug. 16, 2023