The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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the concept of the defense and how he fits in, he'll be able to make more plays," Ray noted. The stalwart of Michigan's '97 de- fense added his own words of caution, with regard to any rookie coming onto the scene. "What I don't want to see is Jibreel going out and trying to be a hero," Ray offered. "This isn't high school. He isn't going to be able to get away with being the best athlete and just domi- nating everyone at every position. This is the big boy league. "If he learns how to make plays within the framework of the defense, and understands from the mental as- pect how it all fits together — run sup- port, pass coverage, zone dropping — he'll make all the plays he's supposed to make." There's always a two-edged sword involved when talking about Peppers, though. On the one hand, observers issue all the appropriate cautionary notes and cite everything he needs to learn. Whether privately or publicly, though, they get around to talking about how gifted he is, and how he could potentially impact Michigan's defense. Not in a year or two, but this season. Ray insists he doesn't like hearing the talk comparing Peppers to his old running mate, Charles Woodson. That makes perfect sense, given that one is a Heisman Trophy winner and a Pro Bowl performer at the NFL level, while the other hasn't so much as deflected a weak wobbler from a harried quar- terback. Plus, Ray likes to note, Woodson came in surrounded by NFL-level tal- ent. Michigan is still building back up to such a cast of characters now, he contends. In the same breath, though, Ray throws out a statement sure to draw fan double takes and face palms inside Schembechler Hall. "Jibreel is leaps and bounds better than Charles Woodson was coming out of high school," Ray noted, before quickly offering a proviso. "But that doesn't always equate to instant star- dom, being an All-American, or being the best player on the field. It's going to come with coaching and come with reps." The difference in the two initially, Ray noted, involves Peppers being more technically advanced from the get-go. "Jibreel has technique," Ray said. "He's been coached up. I watched him play man-to-man coverage, and at the line of scrimmage he under- stands how to bump and run, how to use his feet. He's fast and explosive. He takes off his shirt and he looks like He-Man. "Charles was just a great athlete, and a great football player. He wasn't a cornerback. Charles didn't have the footwork. He couldn't backpedal. He was very competitive. He could move his hips, and run and jump. "But Charles couldn't play off man- to-man very well. He just didn't have the fundamentals. Normally, you don't find a true cornerback fresh out of high school. You have to recruit an athlete and train him in the techniques, and then he becomes a cornerback." Ray marvels at former U-M defen-