nfl.com Mock Draft Projection for Charlton & Peppers

Submitted by BLHoke on
nfl.com's latest Mock Draft posted by Daniel Jerimiah has Taco Charlton going 16th overall to the Baltimore Ravens (obviously, their head coach has special insight!), and Jabrill Peppers going 32nd overall to none other than the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots. Other than my SOL's picking up either of these studs, this would just about be the best case scenario for both guys in my very selfish and biased opinion. Aside from the obvious Michigan ties within each clubhouse, the Pats are always my 1B team I pull for after the Lions play themselves out of things each season because of Tom, Alan and Ty in seasons past... And I've always liked the way the Ravens have gone about things with a defense first, smash mouth approach, especially in the draft. Speaking of the draft... This is why teams like the Pats, Ravens, Steelers, Packers, Broncos, etc. are always in or around the playoff picture and championship contenders. Team after team after team allow good-great players to fall into their laps later in the draft. They take football players while other teams fall in love with workout warriors and combine stars. I realize that this is just a mock and not in any way guarantee to come to fruition, but I found it interesting that at least one analyst thinks it's a possibility.

Tater

February 13th, 2017 at 8:23 AM ^

Jabrill was seen as a top five guy before the season started.  I refuse to believe he will fall that far.  But if he does, the Patriots would be great because he can join a winner right away instead of having to help build one.

Wolfman

February 13th, 2017 at 5:10 AM ^

Jabrill Peppers is a football player, one of the best in the country. Listen to Herm Edwards talk about him some time. Please. Football player is all you need to remember. 

Reader71

February 13th, 2017 at 2:36 PM ^

That's not similar at all, really.

Brian was trying to tell people Morgan was having a great collegiate career. I don't think he ever tried to project what kind of pro he would be.

Plus, Brian was right about Morgan, and it wasn't because of any stats or nerdiness. He was using old-fashioned film scouting.

I'd also suggest to you that most NFL scouts are pretty much horseshit when it comes to projecting college players in the NFL. Its not much better than a crapshoot for most scouts. There are a handful in the league with good track records, the rest are at coin-flip levels.

war-dawg69

February 13th, 2017 at 7:27 AM ^

Those teams are usually good because they have the best QB'S in the league. What happenned to denver after manning left. Without brady their is no billichek. And even more so with Green bay. They don't always have the best draft. With that said both players will be gone before Detrot picks at 21 so the point is mute.

Lutha

February 13th, 2017 at 7:55 AM ^

"They take football players while other teams fall in love with workout warriors and combine stars."

Agree with what you're saying, but not the implication--Jabrill is going to test off the charts at the combine.

BLHoke

February 13th, 2017 at 3:42 PM ^

I didn't mean to imply either guy was a freak athlete themselves. Pep is one of the freakiest athletes the college game had ever seen and Taco was nearly impossible to to contain off the edge without getting away with holding... I was just saying that the Pats and Ravens tend to care more about actual football acumen as opposed to the combine numbers scouts and analysts seem to fawn over leading up to the draft.

PopeLando

February 13th, 2017 at 7:59 AM ^

Didn't the Patriots lose their first rounder this year? Or was that last year?

Either way, there is no chance that EVERY SINGLE TEAM passes on Jabrill.

Night_King

February 13th, 2017 at 8:20 AM ^

Interesting to see him go 32nd to Pats. During super bowl week they were talking about how he reminded some scouts of Patrick Chung. Why would they draft Peppers if Chung still has several years in him? My nerdy prediction is still Christian McCaffrey to the Pats (because why not?) or a lineman. 

treetown

February 13th, 2017 at 10:00 AM ^

If he does become available to the Patriots (evidently do have a draft choic - according to NFL.com, http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000783315/article/2017-nfl-draft-o…) - he will be taken - because he can help right away in stopping wide runs, rush the passer and play special teams as a punt and kick returner.

Belichik has shown the imagination to try out a wide variety of talent and his speed and tackling would be too interesting to pass up.

BrownJuggernaut

February 13th, 2017 at 11:45 AM ^

The Pats struggled to find a punt returner this year as Cyrus Jones struggled in that role. Jabrill would be an instant upgrade for that. That's where I can see him contributing first. Also, the Patriots might lose Logan Ryan who I believe is a free agent and from what I've heard, they're less likely to keep him versus Malcolm Butler. Chung was brought up. I love how physical Chung is but that style of play has led to injuries. It doesn't hurt to have another of those type of players as they tend to help set a tone for the D.

I'm a Patriots fan and I'd love to see Peppers or Lewis donning the flying elvis helmet.

Alumnus93

February 13th, 2017 at 10:33 AM ^

So did playing viper hurt his stock? Heck if he goes that late maybe was better off staying and playing safety or even cb. He was projected top five at start of year.

jdemille9

February 13th, 2017 at 12:13 PM ^

Yes and no, a lot of the knocks seem to be about his coverage ability and lack of production for a projected SS (maybe they should look at the tape and see his impact outside of stats).. which is dumb IMO and sort of a result of the Viper position.

So it probably hurt him in the sense that they didn't see him play his NFL position. He can learn how to cover and any of the so-called weaknesses he has are all things that can be taught so I'm not sure why so many analysts and scouts are down on him. Especially odd since he's only had 2 years of playing to evaluate and the NFL is often so high on potential. He is an elite athlete who hasn't played his best football yet, should be a lock for top-10, but here we are. 

As far as staying or going.. yeah, he could potentially improve his stock (based on analyst predictions, he still could go top 10 as it is) but they wouldn't be moving him off his Viper spot so those arguments would still persist. And the risk of injury is too great. He stands to lose a lot more than he stands to gain by coming back one more year. 

 

BoFlex

February 13th, 2017 at 11:26 PM ^

The biggest/most consistent knock on Peppers I've seen is scouts saying that he was "stiff hips," which plays into his percieved weakness in coverage. I honestly don't know if that is an easy habit to change or not, but I can definitely see why it is a concern.

Ronnie Kaye

February 13th, 2017 at 11:52 AM ^

Lol at all these SHOCKS at Peppers being rated in late Round 1. Do the geeks here only look at mocks written by Todd McShay?

nerv

February 13th, 2017 at 12:15 PM ^

I've been hoping for awhile Dalvin Cook would fall to the Lions. That both fills a need and would be fun as hell to watch. But he seems to continue to creep further up mock drafts; ive seen him ahead of Fournette in some. I hope he runs a crappy 40 or something.

Also just went to NFL.com to see if they had the draft OP was talking about to read some of the comments made by its author. I didnt find it but found a seperate mock which has Jabrill 25th to the Texans and Taco 30th(!) to the Steelers. I hadn't seen any mock having Taco fall close to that far. Doesn't seem possible with his combination of size, athleticism, & production.

Daleppard

February 13th, 2017 at 1:35 PM ^

He would be a perfect fit with Pittsburgh. I hope and pray they find a way to get him. Another Troy Polamalu would be great for the young defense and their corners and safties. With his speed he could help with covering the slot guys instead of using a true LB to do it. 

The Oracle

February 13th, 2017 at 1:47 PM ^

Charlton was the best player on the team and will be the best pro of any of the Michigan guys in this year's draft.

UofM626

February 13th, 2017 at 5:37 PM ^

and be surprised if it's the end of the first or even mid 2nd round. He should of stayed and I'm a firm believer that if Butt didn't get hurt he would be suiting up for Ann Arbor for one more year. This years draft is loaded with defensive players that are hurting his value.