Buccaneers' Russell Shepard: Impresses in Day 1 of mini-camp Tuesday

Shepard took advantage of increased reps during Tuesday's opening mini-camp practice, Joe Kania of the team's official site reports.

Analysis:

The 25-year-old special teams maven saw increased opportunity due to the Bucs being a bit short-handed at receiver, and maximized the extra reps. Shepard had three impressive receptions in traffic during the session, an encouraging sign considering he's only hauled in seven catches over his first two years in the league. The LSU product is one of several candidates vying for positions in the latter portion of the wide receiver depth chart, although his special-teams proficiency would figure to give him an added edge going in to the summer.