Ajani Sheppard

#13 · QB · Sr. · Temple6′2″ · 230 lb · Bronx, NY · Iona Prep

ZPR4962nd of 119 QBsLast gameL 9–17at East Carolina · Oct 31
Nextat NavySat Nov 7 · 3:30 pm ET

Started again at East Carolina, the first start since UConn, week 6.

L 9-17 at East Carolina, Oct 31: 11 of 20 for 118 yards, 3 interceptions · 15 carries for 69 yards.

Temple’s next game: at Navy, Sat Nov 7, 3:30 p.m. ET · CBS Sports Network

Temple has lost three straight in the games with 10 or more passes thrown. A chain-mover who runs a lot.

Strongest: 15% of throws gain 20 or more yards, 13th best of 158 starters. Weakest: sacked on 8% of dropbacks, 27th highest of 158 starters.

Passing yards

1,245

85 of 140, 61%

TD–INT

8–3

8.9 per throw

NCAA rating

150.0

39th of 119

ZPR

49

62nd of 119

How ZPR works

Solid or better in 4 of 6 graded games.

Best by our grade: UConn. Lowest: at East Carolina, with 3 interceptions and sacked 2 times. Best play: Completion for 69 yards, touchdown, at Toledo, Q4 11:40. Win chance 35% to 73%. Costliest play: Fumble, at Toledo, Q4 14:55. Win chance 72% to 49%.

Tap a game for its plays

Q1Q2Q3Q4

Season

Fades after halftime

How to read this

Each column is a quarter. Blue and up is a good stretch for the quarterback, red and down a bad one, hatched means the game was already decided. A red cross is a turnover and a black dot a touchdown. The word on the right grades the whole game; on games with a lot of running it grades the passing only. A gold line means the r/CFB game thread kept naming the quarterback. Tap a game to open its plays: each bar is one of the quarterback’s plays, up helped the team’s chance of winning and down hurt it, and the grey line is that chance.

The word grades the game against every FBS quarterback start, from Rough to Great, using the same throws as the season Zeitgeist Passer Rating and adjusting for the defense faced. Bars are points added per throw in that quarter. The Season row leaves out quarters after a game was decided.

Style of play

Chain-mover

Also: explosive runner, big-play arm

Why this word
Runs7.5 a gameRarelyA lot
Throws9.9 yards past the lineShortDeep
Completes62% by play-by-playFewerMore
Takes sacks8% of dropbacksRarelyOften

The dot is this quarterback, among this season’s starters; the tick is the middle.

Throws at a middling depth and runs a lot. 7.5 carries a game. Closest matches: Owens, Wilson, Braxton ’25, Russell.

Where the throws go

Behind the line12%typical 17%
Short53%typical 47%
Middle17%typical 22%
Deep18%typical 14%

Runs 7.5 times a game; 83% of starters run less.

Closest in style

OwensWilsonBraxton ’25RussellThis QB

Nearer the middle means more alike.

  • Owens Arkansas State · Precision passer
    1,940 yards, 11 TD, 6 INT so far. Both hit big plays and rarely throw behind the line.
  • Wilson Colorado · Mobile passer
    1,164 yards, 7 TD, 7 INT so far. Both throw deep and run a lot.
  • Braxton ’25 Southern Miss 2025 · Vertical passer
    3,053 yards, 24 TD, 8 INT. Both hit big plays and score a lot.
  • Russell Alabama · Playmaker
    2,057 yards, 15 TD, 5 INT so far. Both take sacks and throw deep.

Compared with the 158 FBS starters this season for throws and running, and with 219 quarterbacks across 2 seasons for the matches, on how they play and how they have done.

This week

  • RecordTemple is 2-6.

Worth knowing

  • Ajani Sheppard played at Rutgers and Washington State before joining Temple.

His most important play this season

  1. Q4, 11:40 · Temple down 1, takes the leadAjani Sheppard finds Colin Chase for a 69-yard touchdownTemple at Toledo, week 3Q4, 11:40 · Temple 35, Toledo 286969-yard touchdown pass6969-yard touchdown pass69-yard touchdown passA.Sheppard pass complete deep right to C.Chase caught at TOLEDO38, for 69 yards to the TOLEDO00 touchdown, 1ST DOWN P.Clarke pass attempt SuccessfulWatch from this play CBS Sports College Football

All 10 of his plays on video

Ajani Sheppard

QB · Temple · #13

Filling the Shoesas of Nov 4

Ajani Sheppard takes over from Evan Simon at Temple.

1,245passing yards8passing TD400rushing yards

PRODUCES ABOVE PERCEPTION · PCTL GAP

+56

perception vs production percentile · 2026

The production (72nd) is outrunning the reputation (15th). The recognition is the thing lagging behind.

Read the story so far

Ajani Sheppard arrived as a 3-star prospect. Ajani Sheppard lines up at QB for Temple.

On the field, the headline is 1,245 pass yds, with 8 pass td.

Ajani Sheppard inherited the QB job from Evan Simon (3-star).

The number to watch: +56 — produces above perception · pctl gap.

QB successionleap of faith
  • Inherited fromEvan Simon 3★

AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-11-04