The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/678402
MICHIGAN FOOTBALL deserve the comparisons to former Michigan great Charles Woodson … but how's Willie Mays sound? "Peppers, the poster boy of ver- satility, played 10 positions last sea- son — and that made Jim Harbaugh wonder aloud last November if he could be 'the Willie Mays of football.' He moved from safety to linebacker this spring, and his athleticism has allowed him to adjust quickly. He can run, catch, return, tackle and cover. What's not to like?" Peppers is slated to play strong- side linebacker for the Maize and Blue this fall, a year after starting six games at cornerback and six games at safety, but essentially playing dime linebacker. He broke up 10 passes and recorded 5.5 tackles for loss among 45 total stops. Peppers is not a guarantee to go pro after his sophomore campaign but is eligible because he redshirted in 2014 and players only need to be three years removed from high school graduation to be allowed in the draft. AthlonSports.com ranked senior tight end Jake Butt as the No. 36 over- all prospect for the 2017 NFL Draft while listing fifth-year senior defen- sive end Chris Wormley No. 39 and se- nior cornerback Jourdan Lewis No. 48. CBSSports.com is much higher on Lewis, however, rating him as the No. 9 prospect for next year's draft, saying: "He may lack imposing size at just 5-9, 176 pounds, but Lewis just might be the most dynamic athlete among the 2017 senior class." ESPN NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper also raves about Lewis, believing he will be a first-round pick. "If he had come out this year, he'd have certainly been one of the top corners," Kiper told reporters. "Next year 's draft, if you look at the top five right now and you look at corner, you'd have to put Lewis in there." ESPN.com colleague Moyer also included Lewis among the Big Ten's sure-fire first-rounders next year. "Maybe he didn't post big num- bers, or intercept a lot of passes, like some other defensive backs," he said. "But he was still a shutdown corner, maybe the best cover corner in the nation. "Pro Football Focus listed him as a Heisman candidate 10 games into the season. And, at the end of the year, the group still had him as the top-graded overall cornerback. He broke up 20 passes and made several All-America teams." ❏ FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK • AthlonSports.com ranked Michigan's hiring of defensive coordinator Don Brown as one of the 10 best assistant coach hirings of 2016 within the Big Ten. The site did not rank them in order, but wrote about Brown and U-M: "Michi- gan's defense was already one of the Big Ten's standout units under former coordinator D.J. Durkin. And after Durkin left for Maryland, coach Jim Harbaugh