I'mWithDan
"Straight Cash Homie"
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Those numbers are grossly inflated from the Rutgers game. Arguably the worst team in FBS.
Here's his rushing game log:
http://www.cfbstats.com/2016/player/418/1063867/rushing/gamelog.html
Now tell me again how effective it was? They straight up wasted plays with him on offense against good teams. Even Michigan fans don't argue this. Pepcat, as they call it, was an utter failure.
I think one of the things you need to ignore about Peppers, specifically on offense, is how poorly he was deployed....which I think is what you are eluding to. That's not an issue with the player, that is an issue with the coaches.
I like him a lot as a potential slash player on offense and by that I mean a guy you move around, ala a Tyreke Hill or Joe Montgomery. Plays slot receiver, RB, maybe some WC if he learns to be a better read player. I think he has that kind of ceiling on offense. An elite utility guy.
Where Michigan failed greatly, IMO, was they almost half assed his involvement in the offense. They obviously knew he could be an asset but the only prep time they invested was having him run the WC, which I think was a huge tactical mistake. I get that is low investment, from a time perspective, I just think it was a miscalculation.
If you watch him return punts, he obviously has great vision and an ability to make guys miss.....and his top end speed is elite. He's also a powerful runner for his size but could use a little more weight (if he can carry it well). The biggest question is wether or not he wants to be a RB.....I know there was external discussion at UM that part of the reason he wasn't a RB was because Peppers wasn't as open to a more permanent switch.
He's a tricky player to project on defense, because I think he's a tweener that needs to grow in to a position. What that position is, is up for debate. On offense, I think he's easier to project as an interchangeable offensive weapon who mainly plays RB.
I don't like him where he's projected but I do like him if he's a guy who slides. If Peppers drops to the bottom 3rd of the 1st round, his ceiling is pretty appealing as an offensive player.
With that said, the biggest problem with that approach is this is an insanely deep RB class, so that's certainly a risk. You can kind of see why teams are caught in-between with someone like Peppers. If you're taking him in the top 20 picks, he almost has to be selected as an in the box safety. Some team probably likes him enough as an athlete to let him grow in the that safety spot, I just think he has a higher ceiling on offense. Guess we'll see.
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