Jabrill Peppers is good at football and this is a rare thing that most everyone can agree on in 2016. However, just how good Peppers is remains a debate nationally, and the good folks at ESPN just contributed to the discussion in an interesting way.
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On Wednesday, ESPN's five-man Big Ten panel released its top 25 players in the conference for the 2016 season and Peppers ranked fifth on the list. That undoubtedly strikes some people as too low for the Heisman Trophy finalist and this was the explanation for the ranking.
He finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and he's only fifth here. Why? We feel his production, which dipped dramatically in Big Ten play, and versatility was overrated nationally. That's not to suggest he's anything but a great player with elite athleticism who affected games in infinite ways.
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Much has been made of a production drop from Peppers, and that is worth noting. Because he plays a hybrid defensive position, traditional statistics will never outline his overall impact and his one claim to fame (tackles for loss) declined from an unsustainably high rate early in the campaign.
However, Peppers ranked as one of the better punt returners in the country and his versatility to play effectively on the offensive side of the ball is, if anything, underrated by some. Jabrill Peppers will remain one of the more divisive players in the country until he declares for the NFL Draft (which might be very soon) and this ranking will add fuel to the fire.
