Player
Nathan Shepherd
DL · Saints
Nathan Shepherd: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
8 NFL seasons, 5 in NYJ, 3 in NO — career-best year came in his 8th season.
TrendShepherd career by season
| Season | Team | Tackles | Asst | TFL | Sacks | QB Hits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 (R) | NYJ | 5 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 2019 | NYJ | 6 | 5 | 5 | 2.0 | 6 |
| 2020 | NYJ | 6 | 9 | 3 | 2.5 | 8 |
| 2021 | NYJ | 12 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 2022 | NYJ | 10 | 17 | 4 | 1.5 | 6 |
| 2023 | NO | 19 | 24 | 3 | 3.0 | 8 |
| 2024 | NO | 15 | 21 | 3 | 1.5 | 6 |
| 2025 | NO | 22 | 24 | 4 | 3.0 | 13 |
Shepherd's career broke into two halves:
- 2018-2022 (Jets): rotational interior DL, never more than 12 solo tackles or 2.5 sacks - 2023-2025 (Saints): stepped into a bigger role; 2025 = career-best 22 tackles, 24 assists, 13 QB hits
The 13 QB hits in 2025 is the standout — more than double his previous best and the kind of disruption number that doesn't always show up in the sack column (3.0).
QB hits by season
| Season | QB Hits |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 5 |
| 2019 | 6 |
| 2020 | 8 |
| 2021 | 8 |
| 2022 | 6 |
| 2023 | 8 |
| 2024 | 6 |
| 2025 | 13 |
13 QB hits in 2025 — more than he had in any 2-year stretch of his Jets tenure.
AnomalyShepherd's QB hit totals by year: 5, 6, 8, 8, 6, 8, 6, 13. The 2025 number is 5 more than any other single season in his career and roughly equal to two full Jets-era seasons combined.
The sack count didn't keep pace (3.0 in 2025), which is the gap that separates a useful interior pressure player from a fantasy/sack-stat starter. Pressure-without-finish is still high-value for a 3-4 DE who frees the EDGE rushers next to him.
First career forced fumble came in his 8th NFL season.
SplitThrough his first 7 seasons (NYJ + 2 NO), Shepherd had 0 forced fumbles. In 2025 — his 8th NFL season — he forced his first career FF.
For a 31-year-old interior DL, the disruption profile in 2025 is the best of his career by every measure: career-best tackles, career-best QB hits, first career FF.
95 career tackles, 121 assists, 23 TFL, 13.5 sacks across 8 NFL seasons.
MilestoneCareer totals: 95 tackles, 121 assists, 23 TFL, 13.5 sacks, 60 QB hits across 8 seasons (5 in NYJ, 3 in NO).
The interior-DL totals tell the rotation-role story — never a household name, never a fantasy starter, but a player who turned a 3rd-round pick out of Fort Hays State (No. 72, 2018) into 8 NFL seasons of consistent rotational disruption. The 2025 line is the first time he played like a starter, not a rotation piece.
Saints chapter: 3.5x the sacks-per-season of his Jets chapter.
ComparisonJets era (2018-2022, 5 seasons): 6.0 total sacks → 1.2/year Saints era (2023-2025, 3 seasons): 7.5 total sacks → 2.5/year
The role expansion under Saints DC Joe Woods (2023-24) and then Brandon Staley (2025) roughly doubled his per-year sack production. The 2025 line under Staley — 3 sacks, 13 QB hits, 22 tackles, 24 assists — is the career-best profile a rotation DL produces when he's finally trusted with starter snaps.
FanIQ answers any NFL stats question with receipts, on your phone.
Get FanIQ freeGet it on Google Play