Giants Player Profile: Jabrill Peppers, S

2019 Rewind

I have been following the career of Jabrill Peppers since his time at Don Bosco Prep, and he was an incredibly exciting prospect to watch.

Peppers left Don Bosco and transferred to Paramus Catholic, where he was a unique athlete who lettered in track and field. He was used all the time on offense as a running back, excelled as a defensive back/linebacker, and was an excellent kick returner.

It was a big get for the University of Michigan to land Peppers in recruiting; Michigan tends to have a lot of success with New Jersey’s top recruits (Rashan Gary, Jordan Morant, R.J. Moten).

Don Brown, the revered defensive coordinator for the Michigan Wolverines, used Peppers uniquely in college.

Peppers was recruited as a safety, but he spent a lot of his time in the box as the overhang defender, and near the line of scrimmage. He excelled as a blitzer and brought such a high level of physicality to ball carriers, something we’ve become accustomed to appreciating about Peppers.

He was used on defense and special teams as a returner, but he was used frequently on offense as a weapon. Through his three years in Ann Arbor, Peppers accumulated 45 rushing attempts for 239 yards (5.3 ypc), with five touchdowns, and ten catches for 82 yards.

Peppers proved to be a dual-threat weapon for a football team at the collegiate level. On defense, he recorded 119 tackles, 18.5 for a loss, three sacks, and one interception at Michigan, but 66 tackles, 13 for a loss, three sacks, and the pick were all in his junior campaign, which was his last one in college.

Peppers won a bunch of awards at Michigan and finished fifth in the Heisman balloting of 2016, while also earning the Paul Hornung Award for being the most versatile player in college football. From Day 1 at Michigan, he made an impact, which is a big reason he was drafted in the first round by the Cleveland Browns.

Peppers joined the Browns and Gregg Williams defense, where he would, at times, play 30 yards off the ball in the deep middle of the field. He was solid, but not spectacular, and an argument about misuse could be made, albeit he was effective when used near the box and while blitzing.

He played two years with the Browns and then was traded to the New York Giants in the deal that sent Odell Beckham Jr. to Cleveland.

Peppers excelled as an alley defender for James Bettcher’s defense. His tackling, aggressive nature and toughness at the point of attack made him a very good hybrid defender that could play safety, but could also execute his run fits and be effective in the box.

There were times when Peppers would get caught scrambling on play-action passes because he’s a bit aggressive, and Bettcher’s system was a bit complicated. With the Giants, he had 76 tackles, 5 for a loss, and one interception in 11 games of play before he went down with a back injury.

Going Forward

The Giants have an exciting trio of safeties after selecting Alabama’s Xavier McKinney in the second round. McKinney and Peppers are joined by Julian Love, which will allow new defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham, to implement different, more versatile, looks on the defense's back end.

All three are well rounded, and none are true single-high safeties, but there is going to be a lot of dollar type of defenses with all three on the field.

I won’t be shocked to see actual 3-high safety defense that a lot of Big-12 teams run. The 3-high safety shell allows for a lot of disguises and can force quarterbacks’ decision making to be curtailed.

Cover 3, Cover 2, Cover 1, man across the board, and different rotations can be executed in a defense like this, especially if the high safeties are good at closing width towards the line of scrimmage to ensure light boxes aren’t abused.

Play action may lead to susceptibility, so prudent and decisive choices must be executed by the deep defenders.

We are going to see Peppers also used near the box quite often. I can see passing situations having all three safeties with one linebacker, one down lineman, four corners, and 2 EDGE rushers that can drop or rush, with 5 of the defenders bringing pressure.

Peppers will be used to drop, and to blitz in different packages. His overall competent nature is going to benefit the Giants’ immensely; sadly, it’s a new defense for him to learn, but a more simplified defense he can master. I’m happy the Giants picked up his fifth-year option because he’s well worth the money.