The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MICHIGAN FOOTBALL stincts and surprising strength for a player of his size. "When you play in space as a cor- nerback or safety or nickel back, you get a limited number of times to make a play on the ball or the guy with the ball, and the closer you are to the line of scrimmage, the more opportunities you have to make an impact," said Peppers. "Coach Brown wants to use me in a lot of different ways, but his big- gest priority, he told me, is to have me around the ball a lot more, and this is the best way to do that." Peppers also returns punts and kickoffs, but fans are clamoring for the dynamic defender to receive more op- portunities with the ball in his hands — 53 percent of 249 votes on a The- Wolverine.com poll were hoping Pep- pers earns 4-6 offensive chances per game with another 15 percent hoping for 7-10 touches per game. It remains to be seen if he will see the ball that much, with Brown eager to unleash him on his side of the field. "He's doing enough stuff that keeps his plate full," Brown said. "We're try- ing to do things package-wise to offset the other teams. "The last three guys I coached that played that position are all in the NFL. We expect a lot at that spot, and we're going to get what we expect. "Jabrill's playing at a high level there. I'm happy with him. From a coverage standpoint, he's everything we've expected. And he's picked up the linebacker pieces well. "Like everybody else, he needs more time and more reps." MICHIGAN ATTRITION GROWS BY THREE When Michigan hosted 10,000 fans for an open spring practice March 26 in Detroit, there were three noticeable absentees — junior receiver Freddy Canteen, redshirt junior receiver Jaron Dukes and redshirt junior cornerback Reon Dawson. According to head coach Jim Har- baugh, Dukes and Dawson were both granted medical retirements, while Canteen appears unlikely to return af- ter being dropped from the roster also. The 6-1, 185-pound Canteen played in 15 games his first two seasons, mak- ing three starts, and catching six balls for 22 yards and a touchdown. An early enrollee, Canteen was ex- pected to make a big impact in 2014 as one of quarterback Devin Gard- ner 's downfield targets, but he had only five grabs that season, struggling with consistency in all facets of the receiver's arsenal. He spent time at both cornerback and wide receiver in 2015, and had returned to wideout this spring, but sources had repeatedly told The Wol- verine that Canteen was one to watch as a potential early departure (the same had been said for Dukes and Dawson because of a lack of playing time). A native of Columbus, Ohio, the 6-4, 204-pound Dukes appeared in only one career game, while the 6-2, 181-pound Dawson had never seen the field according to his MGoBlue.com bio. The two, both originally three-star recruits, were part of the nation's No. 5 recruiting class in 2013.