Jabrill Peppers' Top 10 To-Do List

Holy shit! Same! I was wondering how I missed the decommit.

most of that was the result of something we hadn't seen at that point in time, hurdling an isolated defender on an island and a few gymnastic moves off the back of a pickup.  The introduction of this move is what introduced him to the nation. Since then, we've seen many people do it, including a 255 RB from State and our own 6'5" wr.  McGuffie was truly a talented athlete and probably deserved his 4 star rating. However, he wasn't offered by the then "top in-state" school and will be again and wasn't regarded as the best RB in his own state.  Compare his on field exploits with Peppers and Peppers even bests him on the offensive side of the ball. He's bigger, faster and has an NFL body already.  Really no comparison.  Wherease a 4 star will get you into the nation's top 200 or so, that's quite a stretch from no lower than no. 3 and possibly no. 1. These two can't be compared honestly.

Yes, everyone knew who Drew Henson was, after all Brighton is not that far from AA. However, I believe there was a much larger faction that wanted Tom Brady to remain no. 1 and when LC stated he was standing on the field with the greatest qb he'd ever seen, he proved ultimately to be correct, but he was talking about Drew at the time.  Henson, and I agree with your assessment would have been rated a 5 star, no doubt.  However, he was not ready to take the reigns of that team as he proved too many times and I had to admire Tom for taking a backseat w/o quitting, although as we all know the thought crossed his mind. Eventually he and Lloyd worked it out, but it shouldn't have gotten to that point.  Some times kids that are rated this high are, as you put it, are fan favorites from Day one and the coaches, being human, just as often listen to the murmurings. Tom had already proven he was All-Big Ten caliber and too often in Drew's freshman campaign he had to come off the bench to  lead the team to victory due to the mistakes of the youngster who inexplicably, and I say this in regard to on-field performance, simply wasn't a better cfb qb than Tom that year.  Lloyd finally got it right, after we all saw how many times he would grab Drew when coming to the sidelines and point out what he had done wrong by missing, what to him, were obvious misreads and this was often true. Tom simply didn't miss the hot receiver, but he did have the experience factor and by midway through that campaign, he was rightfully reinstated on a permanent basis, as the team's no. 1 signal caller.

Now moving ahead to season 2 Drew came out and was simply great. He made all the right passes, many of which Danielson explained as "these are the types of throws made by people getting paid a lot of money."  He was truly great and if not for the guy from OHIO that lived in NYC may have become one of the greatest college qbs of all time and certainly had a chance to earn that billing at UM.  Unlike Staubach, who set out even longer than Drew due to his commitment to the Navy, he was simply unable to overcome the "lack of education" at the position that Roger gained by staying at Navy for all four years and eventually becoming the Heisman winner in a year where he made UM's defense look rather foolish in AA, no less.  That is one thing that I worry about as to Johnny Football, who possesses some of the most insane talent ever given to anyone, but I'm wondering if he's learned enough to even closely resemble his achievements at A&M if they throw him in too early. He'll be seeing defenses designed to make him think he has a running lane which will close about as quickly as he tucks the ball.  At the opposite end of the spectrum you have a Russell Wilson whose 5th year of college was probably his most important as to learning because even as a rookie he was so far ahead of those coming out early. 

Jabrill is a different type of animal, the highest rated player we've ever recruited although I have no idea where Sir Charles would have ended up if there had been a star and rating system like today's.  Even more importantly, he plays on the other side of the ball and if he is able to earn a starting job for the opener, he'll have done so in a defensive backfiled that is the deepest and most highly rated I can ever remember us having. Woodley, although not as highly rated as Jabrill -how many are?-  was the consensus no. 1 player in MI, was a 5 star backer so obviously was rated very high on the national scale.  We weren't exactly hurting for bodies when he was a freshman, but I do recall him starting at the OLB position in the season opener.  Much like Peppers, he already possessed an NFL body and was definitely ready for BIG play after the autumn camp.  Not certain on Woodson, but I believe he did not crack the starting rotation until midway through his freshman year, and this would be fine with me for Jabrill inasmuch as Charles had two picks in the OSU game, the second one the game clincher So he's probably not far off the mark in predicting three picks. So if there is a steeper curve at the SS or CB than the OLB position Woodley played, I could understand him not getting his first start until after we go through our non-conference part of the season, but seeing that we normally learn more from our mistakes than successes, if he shows enough in the small amount of time the coaching staff has to work with him prior to game one that they are convinced he will be the starter NLT mid-season, like Charles, I really couldn't fault them for bumping him ahead of a more experienced player just to jump start the chemistry that he will need to build with his db counterparts, so essential in building a great defensive backfield as opposed to a really good one.  Although if you recall on how we played against lesser opponents last year the staff will make damn certain he is ready, no matter the fact we're a year more experienced, before inserting him as the no. 1 SS, CB or wherever they see him playing.  Ultimately, the biggest difference between him and Henson as true freshman is one was asked to lead the team where a crucial misread can be the difference in the game's outcome and the other, who I hope causes the staff to reinsert the "Wolfman position," last held by Don Dufek and had the liberty to read the play and react accordingly, is he'll be asked to be no more that a contributor at first and like you, we all hope his freakish abilities and swag unmatched by any incoming freshmen I've seen in awhile will eventually result in him leading the nation's number one defensive backfield.