Nathan Shepherd of Fort Hays State in action during Senior...

Nathan Shepherd of Fort Hays State in action during Senior Bowl practice on Jan. 23 in Mobile, Ala. Credit: AP / Butch Dill

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — The Jets’ third-round pick took a long road to the NFL.

Defensive end Nathan Shepherd of Fort Hays State, the 72nd overall pick Friday night, began his journey in Vancouver, British Columbia.

An NFL career didn’t seem possible, considering he left Canada’s Simon Fraser University after the 2012 season for financial reasons. Shepherd worked at a plant nursery, electrical construction and a printing factory with the goal of getting back to school. When he couldn’t return to Simon Fraser, he walked on at Fort Hays State.

“It brought me to the point where I had to look myself in the mirror,” Shepherd said.

Last season, Shepherd 24, was named the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year and was a first-team All-American after compiling 12 ½ tackles for loss and four sacks for Fort Hays State.

In three seasons at the school, the 6-4, 315-pound Shepherd had 168 tackles, 27 tackles for loss, 10 sacks and two forced fumbles and never missed a game.

The Senior Bowl is where Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan got a serious look at him.

“We felt he was a very talented guy with a lot of upside and we still think he has a lot of good football left in him,” Maccagnan said. “And we don’t necessarily think he is an older player. It’s not like he’s 28 or 29 years old. He’s still going to be a fairly young guy. We think he has a lot of not only potential to develop, [but] we don’t feel like he’s very far off from fulfilling that potential.”

Notes & quotes: Maccagnan said the Jets looked into getting back into the second round but that nothing was strong enough for them to do so . . . The Jets have four picks on Saturday: 107, 157, 179 and 235 . . . The Jets waived WR/KR JoJo Natson, WR Damore’ea Stringfellow, T Korren Kirven and P Ben Turk.

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