It is not very often that a defensive player wins the Heisman Trophy, with Charles Woodson of Michigan being the last to do so in 1997. As the second half of the college football season plays out, it looks as though Michigan could have another defensive standout ready to break the streak. Jabrill Peppers has done a little bit of everything for the Wolverines this season and is very much in the thick of the Heisman Trophy conversation.
“I see him really in a mode of ‘Honey Badger,’ ” Woodson said in an interview with Sporting News, referring to former LSU star Tyrann Mathieu, a former Heisman Trophy finalist. “He’s a guy who you’re going to be able to pretty much put him anywhere.”
Woodson is absolutely correct on that one, because Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh has not shied away from finding as many ways to use one of his top athletes as possible. Peppers started the year off by making a position switch from safety to linebacker, but he has also been used for special teams returns and on offense. He really can do it all for Michigan, and so far it has been paying dividends.
Looking beyond this year, however, it is a question where Peppers will be best suited in the NFL. According to Woodson, it might be in the secondary.
“(Peppers) seems to excel right now when he’s in the box close to the line of scrimmage where it’s a nickel position, or coming down in certain packages as the dime player,” Woodson said to Sporting News. “He can blitz, and he’s very aggressive in the run defense. When I first heard he was going to play the linebacker position, you worry if a guy will be instinctively aggressive at the position, because if not it allows for offensive linemen to get on you.”
Nobody has really gotten him yet.
