With Jabrill Peppers measuring 5-10 7/8 and 213, does this hurt his stock as a potential Linebacker?
twitter.com/CharlesRobinson/status/8376835560...
twitter.comPosted Mar 3, 2017, 4:03 PM UTC
89130
twitter.comAre you joking? Unless he posts 20+ in the bench press and a low 4.3 40 time he's not even gonna sniff the first round.
59
I honestly don't even like him for top 10 in the second round either. You can't teach size and that's the one thing Peppers had before coming in at 5'10.
Now he's a project at either position and needs to either be an undersized linebacker or change everything about his coverage skill set.
20
He's pretty much 5ft11 213lb which doesn't sound as bad but still poor for a linebacker.
12
You're right it doesn't sound terrible. I just think it's a project and potentially a headache. But someone could really profit from his athleticism.
5
First of all, it's pretty much 5'11", not 5'10". And second of all, everyone already knew he was 5'11"! Honestly I think he fared well in the measurements to weight in at 213, lots of people had him around 205. I assume he's going to run a 4.4, which at that size should put him at a decent size to be an in-the-box safety.
7
4.4? I've got him running a low 4.3 he's ridiculously fast in a straight line
5
If I had to guess, I'd say he'll run a 4.40, yeah. I don't think you realize how fast that is. Could he run a 4.5? Sure. 4.3 something? Definitely possible. But I think 4.40 is a pretty good bet.
4
He's fine at safety at that size of he can run sub-4.5. Karl Joseph measured shorter and lighter and never ran a 40 (guessing about 4.5) and still got drafted in the first. I don't like Peppers for the Vikings, but I think someone will take a chance on him.
9
Karl Joseph had coverage skills and could lay the boom
Jabrill doesn't have either
13
That's fine. So, that's what Peppers needs to show, not his speed. Coaches will work with him to see if they can fix his technique and they'll be looking at his 3-cone.
1
Jabrill can't lay the boom? Lmao
1
You want to show me a Landon Collins, Karl Joseph, Kam Chancellor or Mark Barron type hit from him?
Doesn't exist.
3
I don't think his 40 matters so much as the shuttles. He's gonna have the speed to cover adequately on deep routes, especially if matched up against TEs, RBs and slot WRs. The bigger question is his ability to cover them in short areas. At present, he doesn't seem to the football skill for that, but good showings in the shuttle/cone drills would show he has the physical skills for it at least.
1
He is two inches shorter than Bucannon and Barron at the combine but he's the same weight. Granted these guys were drafted as SS but Bucannon still had coverage limitations. I think if he performs well at the combine he could still be anywhere between a mid to late first as a linebacker.
44
Bucannon also showed great ball skills with 11 career interceptions to go with being a block shedding tackling machine. Peppers has one career pick and struggled to get off blocks.
I'm just not seeing a real position for Peppers. He'd be easily the worst Safety coverage-wise to go in the 1st round in years and unless he throws up 40 reps it's going to be extremely difficult for him to not be a liability in run support.
35
[deleted]
1
Peppers was rarely in coverage this past year. What makes you say he is easily the worst coverage wise? Any videos with film of him being poor in coverage?
1
Definitely. Telvin Smith is someone I think of when discussing undersized players. Telvin is still 5 inches taller and ~10 pounds heavier.
He has to put on some weight, but even then he's losing his speed which is already not INSANELY fast. I'm really not a fan
35
He's basically Elandon Roberts minus 20 lbs at this point.
1
Roberts ran a 4.6
1
Yeah, I think LB is out of the question at that size. Gonna have to play Safety.
18
220 is considered pretty dicey for even a weakside LB in a 4-3 and even the few guys who do play at that weight are extraordinarily fast and exceptional in coverage.
13
I think he's got to be seen as a safety with upside as a returner/special teamer. Sure, he can play "wlb" in your dime package, but you're not going to have this guy lining up as a full-time LB.
12
Dude is definitely overrated
10
Because he's an 1/8th of an inch under 5'11".
Who exactly has him rated "high" for him to be overrated?
2
He's a safety now.
10
But now he's about ideal size for an rb. I'd probably take a flier on that if he's still there in the early 4th maybe.
10
Honestly I think this is his best shot at carving out a niche in the league. That and special teams.
4
[deleted]
1
As someone who viewed him as a best fit as a 4-3 Will, does this trash his stock as a LB?
Even if he runs a fantastic 40 time he's still smaller than deone Buchanon who was his best case pro comp as a money backer...
So no matter how much weight he puts on he's still going to be the smallest LB on the field...
9
Oh yeah that deff hurts his stock. LBs have gotten taller, if this was the 80s, he'd be fine. He's gonna get pushed back to being a DB or a WR.
12
Height isn't a hindrance if he has good speed, coverage skills and run pursuit skills. He can be a nickel LB if he gets a little bigger and maintains speed. He can aim to get better in coverage so he can cover slots and rbs, and play cutback/cleanup as the wlb. Like a combo of shaq thompson/Telvin Smith
2
All I know is that this muthafucka needs to eat a few more sandwiches if he wants to play LB
9
Prime rib sammys with a triple helping of fried turkey legs.
3
The people in this thread are insane. He's 10 pounds lighter than Deion jones and will test explosively. Still an easy 1st rounder
9
Ten pounds lighter than one of the lightest LBs in the league. It's not that insane. He is light. Going to have a hard time shedding blocks in the run game, which can affect value. Utility and special defensive personnel aren't valued as highly as a guy who can stay on the field for three downs.
17
Deion Jones had tape to back it up though. Peppers does not
6
Not to mention, the Falcons had one of the worst red zone defenses and a lot of that had to do with a smaller linebacking unit. They excelled in coverage but we're not great at stopping power run schemes.
1
That's a side effect of the scheme not the personel
1
Deion Jones was a backup until his draft year and got smacked by Bama (LSU's only nationally relevant game). Peppers played CB, Safety, and Linebacker in his 3 years at Michigan and played every position at an elite level. What they have in common is speed and space tackling, which is getting more and more valuable every year. When he runs sub-4.4 tomorrow this won't even be a conversation.
1
played every position at an elite level
I think we have very different definitions for the word elite
1
So you'd want your team to take him in the first?
4
Sure. Dan Quinn loves speed and versatility. Even though we kinda filled his spot on our roster by using our 1st two picks last year on guys with similar body types.
3
He's a safety....
7
He's not gonna be a linebacker. He's just entering as one on the combine to do tackling drills and other drills he'd be good at instead of looking bad in DB drills
6
He's doing LB and DB drills.
1
He's too little for a linebacker. I really don't think he is worth the pick in the first two rounds.
He will probably go, but I just don't see it working out well.
5
The only answer is yes. I wonder if he's regretting being such a jack of all trades in college instead of buckling down and mastering one position.
Now that he is a full time linebacker I can see him going to the second round.
5
His mistake was to trust UM Athletic Department's marketing team. They created this mess, IMO. Jabrill could have been an excellent RB. But instead we got this faux Woodson media product with highly questionable value as anything but a return man.
5
Newsflash to the r/NFL Michigan doesn't actually promote their players. As a lifelong fan, I've seen at best a small handful of University sponsored marketing of players.
1
I enjoy it when big eyed kids pretend to be worldly and present their prosaic opinions as the hardfought pearls of "a lifelong fan".
-1
My bad, so explain it to me like I am 5:
What did the University of Michigan Athletic Department Marketing team do? Please cite examples.
1
Did Peppers fuck this sub's collective mother?
5
Nah, just backlasb for him getting so much hype from the media during the season. So reddit collectively sees it as their duty to take em down a few pegs.
Same with curry in r/nba
3
This man is a running back lol, being dead serious
4
I think Mayock said it best, "This kid's best position might be running back."
4
I think you seriously have to look at this guy as a SS. Can he improve his coverage skills? If no, then pass on him. Elite athleticism isn't enough to survive on in today's NFL. A project linebacker in round 1? I don't think he's worth it at all. He doesn't have the frame plain and simple.
Doesn't it just remind you so much of Jeremy Cash from last year? Too small to play linebacker, too bad in coverage to play safety. I'm not saying Peppers is going undrafted, but it wouldn't surprise me if he slid way deep into day 2.
I think that's entirely possible. His coverage skills are VERY suspect. Landon Collins is a guy, who comes to mind, who fell to the second round because of his coverage skills. And I think Peppers are worse (by a good margin). This guy only had one pick in his 3 years while he played CB, S, LB.
I'm enamored with athleticism as much as the next guy, but drafting a guy solely on athleticism and "passion" in the first round is very risky. His size not only limits his ability to play LB, but makes him a big injury risk with the way he plays.
I'm not saying he won't have a role in he NFL. Sending him on safety blitzes on an aggressive defense would be scary, the dude flies. I just don't know if he's an every down player. That scares me if I'm taking him in round one. He'll probably blaze during the 40-time and be over drafted.
To be fair, he really only played 2 years. His true freshman season he got hurt during the 3rd game and never returned.
I mentioned that in the comments. I don't think that bodes well for his durability as a 5'10 LB.
Cash was a better rusher and a better run defender than Peppers and also 6'2 and 220 while playing. And he played zone in college, even sometimes deep, just not that often, because duke plays a 4-2-5 and the was the featured mostly box safety.
Cash was 6'0'' 205
You are right about the height, 6'2'' was in his duke bio, but he was 212 at the combine while he couldn't really train with a wrist and harmstring. And he played way bigger than peppers.
I agree. Look at reshad jones/kam chancellor to see what his best position is going to be.
I agree. He's athletic and that's attractive, but I think not having a position is going to hurt him
I don't know about Kam Chancellor since I don't watch Seattle, but Reshad Jones is very versatile, he can play in the box or help over the top in pass coverage.
If he can't improve his coverage skills dramatically, his ceiling is basically John Cyprien in terms of impact on the defense. Passable box safety, does some things well, not enough of an impact to be locked up before hitting free agency.
(I'm not comparing him to Cyprien as a player - Cyp is way more physical, he regularly sheds blocks from O-linemen and he has the strength to set the edge and funnel runs inward. Peppers is faster. But in terms of the whole "his coverage is suspect, can he be a pocket linebacker?" thing I think the comparison is apt.)
Shaq Thompson, Jatavis Brown, bucannon got moved to LB, Zaire Anderson, Mike singletary, telvin smith is a stud at roughly the same weight, there're people his around size playing in the NFL.
Won't be easy, but he can easily pack on 10-20 pounds in an NFL lifting program, or be used as a box "safety" like Harper was.
History tells a different story than you do.
Dude Telvin Smith is 6'3 not 5'10. I don't really know much about the rest of the guys you mentioned. Shaq Thompson hasn't really lived up to the hype. Most of the guys you listed are 6'0 or better.
He's 218, who gives a shit about height? Does 4 inches make him a significantly better player?
Thompsons done a great job for us, you just eat last when Keuchly is at the table.
You're placing way too much on height.
Height, weight, wingspan, coverage skills...these are things Peppers does not have. Not only have we not seen him hold up physically against the run, but he's basically an CB trying to hold up physically against 300-pounders in the run game. You think he's going to hold up for 16 games? He'll be IR by week 4.
Smith being a better player makes him a better player.
Telvin Smith misses more tackles than 95% of the league because of his size.
I think he dropped weight to nail his 40 time. He'll put weight back on between now and his Pro Day and sit on his 40 time (if it's good enough).
He's weighed in the 220s before. This isn't an accident. This is him nailing the 40 and showing teams, between this and his Pro Day, that he can be versatile in his weight based on what they need.
I don't think he can hold up physically at LB. 5'10 is very short, he would need to add a lot of weight and hold up against the run. I know people watch his highlights and gush over him, but look at his game tape of him trying to hold up against the run it's not pretty. Just because he makes one highlight play it doesn't negate the 3 plays he's blown up at the line of scrimmage.
Oh, I'm not saying it will work. I'm just saying I think that's his strategy and we'll see him get a lot bigger over the next month.
It's a theory. He can definitely play bigger than he is right now, so it seems like it has to be intentional.
Yeah not arguing that. Just don't know if that's first round material as a project player. Plenty of polished guys who have proven they can play their position.