2017 NFL Draft: Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers is a generational talent

Oct 8, 2016; Piscataway, NJ, USA; Michigan Wolverines running back Jabrill Peppers (5) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during their game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at High Points Solutions Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 8, 2016; Piscataway, NJ, USA; Michigan Wolverines running back Jabrill Peppers (5) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during their game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at High Points Solutions Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers is truly a once-in-a-generation talent. The 2017 NFL Draft should start with his name being called…

There is no one in college football that I would rather have on my football team as an NFL general manager than Jabrill Peppers.

Michigan’s superstar defensive back is not a jack-of-all-trades. That would not do him justice. He is a master of many trades, and as a result, he has played 12 different positions this season.

You didn’t read that wrong.

Peppers is flat out the best football player in the country, and we’re being treated to a weekly performance of flat out dominance no matter where he lines up. So far this season, Peppers has two rushing touchdowns on just five attempts, averaging almost 20 yards per carry. He has 14 punt returns for an average of 18 yards a return with a touchdown. He has 39 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, five QB hurries, and a forced fumble defensively.

What can you do to stop him? He’s a one-man team.

Peppers was known as a versatile player coming out of high school, but Michigan has done a phenomenal job of supporting that talent rather than trying to pigeon-hole him into playing just one position.

More from NFL Mocks

There are so many things he can do to help you win football games, and he plays with incredible passion. If I’m an NFL general manager, I wouldn’t even think twice about who the top pick in the draft would be. The only reason Peppers might not be the number one pick in the 2017 draft is if the team picking is in desperate need of a quarterback.

That’s typically the case.

That being said, this could be a great year to be picking second overall…

Peppers sort of reminds me of the late, great Sean Taylor. He might not provide the same type of skill set, but you just remember what kind of a versatile athlete Sean Taylor was. He was dynamic with the football in his hands, a true playmaker and a dominant football player. It was never that Sean Taylor was a safety first, football player second. There’s something to be said for guys who just have an innate ability to play the game.

Peppers has it.

Of course, playing at Michigan, the comparisons to future NFL Hall of Famer and Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson are there. Woodson was also a dynamic threat on offense in addition to being dominant on defense.

Peppers is a generational talent. You don’t see guys like him come around all the time. Whatever NFL team gets him is going to be getting the next great superstar in the league, a player that will be giving opposing coaching staffs nightmares when they have to play against him.

He is the best player in college football in my opinion, and one of the best to come around in a long while.