Jabrill Peppers was a star at Paramus Catholic in New Jersey (file photo)
Jabrill Peppers anticipation already is at a high level, with him even getting a vote in the Big Ten writers’ poll as one of the best defensive players in the conference.
But his scope might go beyond that.
Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh said Peppers, a redshirt freshman safety, could play on offense as well.
“There’s a possibility,” Harbaugh said. “Jabrill is Jabrill. Every individual, if they have the capability of doing that and the desire to do that, we will explore that.”
Peppers, ranked as the nation’s No. 2 freshman in the 2014 class, only played 2 1/2 games last season because of injuries.
“We start talking about both ways, two ways, there’s three ways you can contribute — there’s offensively, defensively and special teams,” Harbaugh said. “Many players do that, many players play offense and special teams, play defense and special teams. And sometimes, you’ll play offense and defense. It’s rare that somebody does offense, defense and special teams, the rare three-way player. It’s exciting when somebody’s capable of doing that. They have some real gifts athletically and they’re really smart, sharp to understand three different systems.”
But with Peppers, Harbaugh has few concerns.
“Jabrill has never struck me as somebody that I’ve ever seen his head spin, I’ve never seen that from him. He’s not one of those type of youngsters,” Harbaugh said. “He’s got a tight grip of his mind. Very sharp, very focused. I’ve never seen him unconfident. He’s very confident in his preparation and his ability.”
Peppers said after the spring game that there was a plan in place to get him some snaps that day, but it just didn’t work as the game wore on.