Philadelphia Eagles

Eagles CB Maxwell likes what he sees from rookie CB JaCorey Shepherd

Published Aug. 4, 2015 4:55 p.m. ET

foxsports

After trading incumbent nickel cornerback Brandon Boykin on Saturday, the Philadelphia Eagles quickly promoted rookie JaCorey Shepherd to the first team defense at Boykin's old position. It didn't take long for Shepherd to make a positive impression on Eagles' cornerback Byron Maxwell.

"JaCorey Shepherd got a chance to make some waves," Maxwell told Eagles reporters, per PhiladelphiaEagles.com. "I'm excited about him. He has ball skills, so his ceiling is high."

In college, Shepherd's ball skills were on display almost every game. He ended his 26-game career at Kansas with five interceptions and 37 pass breakups.

Shepherd's college production has some people confused about why a prospect like that could fall all the way into the sixth round of the NFL draft, where the Eagles scooped him. Maxwell can't figure it out either, but he acknowledged the uncertainty of the draft process as a whole.

"I don't understand that either," Maxwell said. "That's the draft, guys slip all of the time."

Shepherd has an opportunity to emerge as the Eagles' nickel cornerback in 2015, but the job won't just be handed to him. The Eagles used a second round draft pick on cornerback Eric Rowe. If Rowe starts to make noise in training camp, the Eagles could kick Nolan Carroll into the slot and use Rowe on the outside. This would leave Shepherd in a reserve role. The battle for the Eagles' No. 3 cornerback will be an excellent one to track throughout August.

(h/t Philadelphia Eagles)