As the 2016 college football season progressed, one name sounded
every weekend in all of college football circles. Jabrill Peppers
filled covers and news of the American
media with his highlights plays. Michigan, his alma mater, was winning game
after game and, led by Jim Harbaugh, the team looked to finish as one of
the best in the country. People who thought so highly of him were clearly on
their right to believe that.
Michigan´s season
ended with three losses in it's
last four games, with Peppers missing the Orange Bowl
matchup versus Florida State. Even with that sour finish, Mr. Everything
(nicknamed like that for being able to do so many things on the gridiron) still
had an optimistic outlook for the next NFL Draft to be held on April 27.
Therefore, despite being a junior and able to play another year in college, he
decided to jump on the wave and present himself to the event, being one of the
prospects with more possibilities to leave in the first round. Even people like
Mike Mayock, one of the
greatest draft analysts, says that he is a Top 5 overall talent. I don't think the same as
I will
try to explain my reasoning in the next few lines.
Jabrill Peppers
has moved through almost every possible spot on Michigan's defense. He has played linebacker, free
safety, strong safety and cornerback. Occasionally he has been aligned in the
defensive line as a pure rusher. At a
first glance this may seem like a good thing, but I don't think it has
worked out that well. He has played everything, but without specializing in
anything. Versatility is something good in a player, but to a certain degree.
You can not put someone in a spot where he does not perform well, or even worse, where he
does not
help the team. For me, Peppers must be a strong safety. Nothing else.
Jabrill is a first
class athlete, lets start with that. His explosiveness, speed and power are extraordinary. This
allows him to have a lot of range on the football field. He is a
sideline-to-sideline player, able to travel from one spot of the field to
another with great ease, arriving before anyone else.
Peppers' number 5
fills your eyes when you start looking at the tape of Michigan's first few games
from last season. You watch him moving everywhere and he is always located
next to the ball. True to be said,
quality of
these first rivals was not top notch, so his physical superiority overwhelmed the opponents.
You can see him blitzing, stopping the run with force and chasing receivers as
if they were his shadow. He does so many things and all well executed. But as
the season progressed, and his opponents started to be technically better, Peppers' physical
superiority was not that evident and his production declined. He kept moving at lighting
speed, but moving to places where he should not be. And this is what I most dislike about
his game. As soon as the play takes on a more designed structure, Peppers
suffers. I will reason my view.
He is good at
blitzing when the gap is open. He is very fast and explosive, as soon as the
snap is released, it takes him
tenths of a second to reach the quarterback. Even when
aligned outside, from the slot, he can beat OTs with his speed and size (he can bend well).
The problem comes when he encounters some obstacle in his path. Any contact, even small ones, leaves Peppers away
from the ball. He is clearly dominated when engaged on a block at the line of
scrimmage.
Same thing happens
when TE are
the ones that execute the blocks on him at the second level. I have even seen him
having a hard time fighting against some wide receivers. All his danger as a
possible rusher is lost among the offense line blocks.
I consider Peppers
a good tackler. He has good technique and attacks with aggressiveness and power.
Sometimes he seems to catch some bad angles in the open field because of that
aggressiveness (juke moves hurt him), but that is easy to correct if you train him on that.
His work ethic doesn't seem to be a problem at all.
Defending the pass
Peppers follows the receivers well when he is in man-to-man coverage. His
speed, again, allows him to be close to the quarterback´s possible target, but
he locks too much on the intended receiver and many times he has difficulty to
locate the ball in the air. Aditionally, in off-man coverage he has a lot of
problems. He doesn't recognize the route run at him, nor when it will break. He takes
too much time to react to the break, so it's common to see the receiver gain the
necessary separation to be able to easily receive the pass. When you talk about
double moves it's another whole scenario,
in those situations he simply doesn't have a clue.
When he is defending in zone and the receiver's
path comes in front of him at some distance (flat
routes, quick outs or quick ins) he can minimize the yardage gain because his explosiviness allows him to arrive in very few seconds to the receiver.
However, what
worries me most about this young player are his poor recognizing skills in situations where the quarterback
and running back cross with the ball at the mesh point. I'm talking about play
actions, read options, run-pass options or trick plays. Peppers keeps his eyes
on the possible ball carrier or receiver and completely ignores the ball. He
uses his great explosiveness to go where he should not be, so he ends up very far from the
real location of the ball. This is troublesome. He is
very susceptible to bite on quarterback fakes in the
NFL.
My final conclusion
is simple. Jabrill Peppers has shined in his college days because of his physical attributes. As a
returner he is a very interesting player, as he knows how to exploit his power and speed
as few players can do. On offense he can help you as
a runningback at certain times. But as a pure defender
he has many things to improve on, such as anticipating opponent moves and
knowing how to react to them. In general, his football IQ has to be
dramatically improved. Otherwise he
will be a liability for his defense.
NFL teams love the
physical qualities of guys like Peppers. The faster you are, and the more field
you can cover, the more likely you are to end up being a very high draft pick. We have seen it in
recent years and will continue to see it in the future. There is no doubt
that speed is important in the game of football, but it's not everything.
Or, at least, I don't want to think it is.
Almost certainly, at the end of April we will see Peppers chosen among the 32 first round players. The franchise that takes him will have in his hands a player who can do many things, but not in the best possible way. He will have to work hard in training camp to earn a spot among the starters, because in the NFL his physical attributes will not be better than most. He doesn't have to be Mr. Everything to shine in the pros, he just has to be one thing: a good strong safety.
Rubén Ibeas (@rubenibg)
Almost certainly, at the end of April we will see Peppers chosen among the 32 first round players. The franchise that takes him will have in his hands a player who can do many things, but not in the best possible way. He will have to work hard in training camp to earn a spot among the starters, because in the NFL his physical attributes will not be better than most. He doesn't have to be Mr. Everything to shine in the pros, he just has to be one thing: a good strong safety.
Rubén Ibeas (@rubenibg)
