The Wolverine

If he does see the field offensively for the Wolverines, Peppers would become only the third U-M defensive back in the past 25 years to make a statistical contribution on both sides of the ball, joining Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson (1995-97) and James Whitley (1997-2000). Whitley, though, only had one reception in his senior year while Woodson had 11 rushes for 173 yards and two t o u c h d o w n s ( a l m o s t e x c l u - s i v e l y ru n n i n g re v e r s e s ) w i t h 25 receptions for 402 yards and three scores in his sophomore and junior campaigns for the Maize and Blue. "There is only one Charles Wood- son, and it is incredibly unfair to Jabrill Peppers for us to say, 'He's the next Woodson,'" said Ray, who started alongside Woodson in 1996- 97. "He's played three games in a Michigan uniform [before a season- ending injury in 2014]. He has physi- cal talent, but it is inexperienced and untapped potential right now. "If he plays offense, we can say he's the first guy since Woodson to do it, but that's where the similarities must end." Woodson did not play offense until he was an established defender, start- ing 12 games as a rookie in 1995 be- fore running a reverse against Illinois in the 1996 season opener. "Let's just see if we can get him out there playing consistently at one spot defensively before we pencil him on offense as the next Charles Woodson, which is ridiculous to talk about in that way," former U-M offensive line- man and current TheWolverine.com analyst Doug Skene said. "I just want to see the kid play well on defense, and start there, and if he can go over and make things happen on special teams and offense, that's great. "But he came to Michigan to raise the standard in t h e M i c h i g a n secondary, and I want to see step one before I see steps tw o an d three." P e p p e r s h a s been rotating between safety, when U-M has four defensive backs on the field, and nickel, when the Maize and Blue go to a five-DB look, bring- ing junior Delano Hill out as a third safety. "We can all do things as safeties that would maybe be like a hybrid linebacker," Peppers said. "We can cover the slot and still support the run game. "One thing I was told when I was younger is, 'Be a guy they have a hard time taking off the field. Be a guy that they use at multiple spots. Be able to play the nickel or be able to play the Sam or be able to go back to cornerback.' I just think about it like that. "Whatever the scheme is for that week, that's what we're going to do." While Peppers will almost cer- tainly appear offensively and on Peppers "One thing I was told when I was younger is, 'Be a guy they have a hard time taking off the field. Be a guy that they use at multiple spots.'"

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