Is It Les Miles' Fault That Russell Shepard Is Leaving LSU for the NFL?

Although no official announcement has been made as of yet, according to a tweet by LSU WR Russell Shepard, it sounds as if the former 5-star recruit is leaving the Tigers a year early and surprisingly entering the 2012 NFL draft. 

On Wednesday, Shepard tweeted the following: "Thanks for your support Tiger Nation...but I have to do what's best for my family and myself...Geaux Tigers"

He followed that tweet on Thursday with this: "But out of those 14 catches I still had 4 touchdowns you guys trying to talk down on me gives me more reason to leave.. I Can't believe this"

If Shepard does in fact leave LSU for the NFL, it may end up being a decision he ultimately ends up regretting, as he hasn’t shown enough to warrant much interest from NFL teams up to this point in his career.

In his three years at LSU, Shepard has only caught a total of 52 passes for 478 yards and scored five touchdowns.

The junior receiver arrived in Baton Rouge amid much fanfare, as one of the top-rated recruits of the 2009 class, but he struggled making the move from quarterback, which he played at Houston’s Cypress Ridge High School, to wide receiver, where he was never able to break out and make the impact many expected he would.

Athletically, Shepard is one of the most gifted players in all of college football, and he’s got the speed and natural ability that you look for in an NFL wide receiver. But his lack of production and consistency will likely turn many NFL teams off unless he can truly tear it up in his workouts. 

One reason Shepard is likely leaving LSU is he obviously didn’t receive the playing time he was hoping for, as he watched Rueben Randle and Odell Beckham, Jr. hog up most of the glory as LSU’s top two wide receivers this season.

Shepard even tweeted after the BCS championship game: “OMG I played 3 plays.”

Many LSU fans wondered why Shepard was so underutilized in the offense this year, given that he’s such a gifted and special athlete.

Some will point the finger at head coach Les Miles and the offensive coaching staff for failing to incorporate Shepard into the game plan more, but remember, it’s not as if the Tigers were really struggling without him, considering they went 13-0 in the regular season and dominated almost everybody they faced.

In the end, like we’ve seen with many top recruits, Shepard was just never fully able to recapture the magic he had as a high school star. Whether that was because the coaches didn’t use him enough or because he just couldn’t properly handle the transition to wide receiver can be debated, but for Shepard, it now sounds like he’s focused on the next chapter in his life and ready to put his time at LSU behind him. 

Yes, most would agree that the wise decision for Shepard would be to stay at LSU for his senior season and build up his draft stock, but given the way he was thrown to the back burner this year, that probably doesn't seem like a very intriguing option for him right now. 

We'll see how it all plays out, but if this is truly the end of Russell Shepard's time at LSU, it will leave many simply wondering what could have been.