Dan Sheldon has always been a play-maker in NIU football coach Joe Novak’s eyes.

The only problem has been getting him the ball.

“He’s a big-play guy and we try to get the ball into his hands,” said Novak of the senior wide receiver. “As you look back, there are times we should give him the ball more.”

Sheldon is third in the MAC for receiving yards, but has only 34 catches, compared to first-place Dante Ridgeway’s 76 and Eric Deslauriers’ 49.

Sheldon also leads MAC receivers with an average of 22.6 yards per catch.

“That’s a reflection on his big-play capability,” NIU quarterback Josh Haldi said. “He’s got good speed, quickness and great hands.”

Standing 5-foot-11, Sheldon is used to being shorter than his coverage, but doesn’t look at his height as a disadvantage.

“A guy that’s bigger is probably not as quick or agile,” Sheldon said. “So you just beat him with moves and get him off-balance. You’ve got to use your advantages over him.”

Quickness is where Sheldon evens out any height disadvantages. His 4.41 40-yard time ranks second on the team to running back A.J. Harris.

“We call plays to get him involved,” Haldi said. “We’ve got a lot of flexibility on our offense, but he gives you that extra ability to make the play. When we do need a big catch, I look for his number.”

Sheldon has had his share of big plays this season, one being a pass from Marcus Perez to shift momentum in NIU’s favor against Southern Illinois earlier this season.

Perez received a toss from quarterback Phil Horvath and threw a 61-yard pass to a wide-open Sheldon for a touchdown.

Or against Akron, when Sheldon returned a punt 73-yards for a touchdown.

“He’s definitely a play-maker,” Perez said. “He catches a 5-yard catch and makes it a 50-yard play.”

On top of his receiving stats, Sheldon ranks ninth in the nation for punt return average. Sheldon also is among the top-10 punt returners in the nation with 282 total yards.

In 2002, Sheldon led the nation with a nation-leading 22.7 yards per return.

“My only job is to catch the ball,” the Elgin native said. “After I catch the ball, it’s all reaction. You don’t get a lot of time to think, and I try not to psych myself up too much about it because you really can’t always control what type of return it’s going to be.”

Sheldon is back this season after suffering a season-ending injury to his left elbow in NIU’s fifth game against Ohio.

“It was better than a lot of things that could have happened,” Sheldon said. “It healed up quickly and now it’s to the point where I don’t even notice that it happened.”

In this, his final season, Sheldon feels he’s a part of a well-balanced offense with one of the best receiving cores he’s seen.

“You don’t have to teach those guys things,” said Sheldon of fellow receivers Sam Hurd, Shatone Powers and Perez. “We have a veteran group that’s probably one of the best in the MAC.”