The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING ing after a season-ending injury as a sophomore), two four-star juniors and four four-star sophomores, and this fall will add five-star freshman Jabrill Pep- pers to the fold. Mixed in are several three-star players, including some who have already earned playing time over more highly rated teammates. Future recruiting is just as bright, with three four-star prospects committed to the 2015 class. Peppers is the player that draws the most attention nationally. While the day-to-day recruiting rarely draws the attention of the public at large, Michi- gan signing a talent like Peppers made headlines in February. Even one of Michigan's best recent defensive backs, Marlin Jackson, notes that Peppers is a player for U-M fans to get excited about. "I've watched his highlights," Jack- son said. "I'm excited by him. It's one thing to have all of the physical at- tributes, but when you see somebody who gets it … I can feel his spirit when he plays, his intensity, his enthusiasm. He loves to play football, he loves to compete, he wants to be better — you can see that come out. "It's not a cockiness, but it's a swag- ger and confidence that he has about himself and his game that will help raise other players' game to that level. You need guys like that to demand more of themselves and of others." Peppers' talent is big in its own right, but Jackson touches on another key point for the development of the Michigan secondary. Excellent players demand excellence from themselves and those around them. The players already in Ann Arbor will have to step their games up or risk losing their starting jobs. "Those DBs, they're nervous," Jack- son said. "They'd be lying to tell you otherwise. They're nervous about this guy coming in and taking somebody's spot. I hate to say it, but he should take somebody's spot. He's that talented, and if he gets it early on, he should be starting by the end of this season." That would be an impressive accom- plishment for Peppers, in part because several of Michigan's projected start- ers are entrenched at their positions. Countess and Raymon Taylor both have two years of starting experience, free safety Jarrod Wilson has one year under his belt, and even many of the backups — sophomore safeties Dy- monte Thomas and Delano Hill and junior cornerback Terry Richardson — were four-stars with plenty of hype of their own out of high school, and are a couple years into learning Michigan's system. That's a far cry from the days of Michigan's previous coaching staff, when the Wolverines seemed to be scrambling each and every preseason — even during game weeks — to find enough healthy bodies to fill every position in the defensive backfield. That created opportunities for play- ers such as Jordan Kovacs to step up and make an impact. He was far from a star recruit: a student-body walk- on who didn't register on the radar of any recruiting service. Despite that, he managed to become a multi-year captain and recently finished his first NFL season with the Miami Dolphins.