This week, The Wolverine is counting down the five best Michigan football players for the five years of Jim Harbaugh's tenure, as decided upon by our staff.
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Checking in as the best player of the Harbaugh era is safety/viper Jabrill Peppers, who played for the Maize and Blue from 2014-16.
A Paramus (Nj.) Catholic product, Peppers was the No. 3 overall recruit in the country for the class of 2014, per Rivals.com, entering Ann Arbor with plenty of hype surrounding him.
Playing for head coach Brady Hoke during his freshman season in 2014, Peppers started at safety in his first career game, a blowout win over Appalachian State. But in that contest, he suffered an ankle injury that forced him to miss the next week's tilt at Notre Dame. He appeared in the next two games, but then was shut down for the rest of the season with his injury, receiving a medical redshirt.
During his second collegiate season in 2015, and first year playing for Harbaugh, Peppers started all 12 regular-season games, notching 45 tackles with 5.5 for loss and 10 pass break ups as a safety.
While also featuring as a returner for both kicks and punts, it was rumored all season that Peppers could line up on offense, and sure enough, he did just that, with his first appearance on that side of the ball coming in the rivalry matchup against Michigan State. For the season, he carried the ball 18 times for 72 yards and two touchdowns, while also making eight catches for 79 yards.
He was named a second-team All-American by Sporting News and CBS Sports, while helping the Wolverines double their win total from their disappointing five-win season in 2014. He missed the team's Citrus Bowl victory over Florida with an injury.
In his final season of college football in 2016, Peppers was one of the premier players in the country, excelling in all three phases of the game. He made 67 tackles with 13.0 for loss, one interception and eight quarterback hurries, all while playing a new position, the viper linebacker, under then first-year defensive coordinator Don Brown.
His impact went beyond the stat sheet, too, with the dynamic athlete consistently shutting down one side of the field and making up for the mistakes of others.
On offense, he primarily played wildcat quarterback, totaling 27 rushing attempts for 167 yards (6.2 average) and three scores. He averaged 26.0 yards per kick return and 14.8 yards per punt return. He returned a punt 54 yards for a touchdown against Colorado.
"If there's a better player in the country, I don't know who it is," Harbaugh said following Michigan's 78-0 blowout victory at Rutgers in 2015, a game in which Peppers made three tackles and also ran for two touchdowns. "There are a lot of great players out there, but this guy — to be able to coach a guy like Jabrill Peppers is a real joy. ... There's nothing he can't do. It's the darndest thing I've ever seen.
"In my humble opinion, we're looking at a Heisman Trophy winner."
Come season's end, Peppers found himself receiving plenty of national recognition, including being named a Consensus (and unanimous) first-team All-American and finishing fifth in Heisman Trophy voting with an invitation to the ceremony in New York. He was tabbed as the Paul Hornung Award winner, which is handed out to the most versatile player nationally, won the Lott IMPACT Trophy (for best defensive player, taking into account maturity, performance, academics, community and tenacity) and was named his team's Most Valuable Player. A first-team All-Big Ten performer, Peppers was named the conference's top linebacker, defensive player and return specialist.
Peppers was unable to play in Michigan's matchup against Florida State in the Orange Bowl, due to a hamstring injury he suffered in practices leading up to the game.
He declared early for the 2017 NFL Draft, and was selected with the 25th overall pick in the first round by the Cleveland Browns, where he played for two seasons, before being part of the Odell Beckham Jr. trade that brought Peppers to the New York Giants.
Peppers has started all 40 NFL games he's appeared in, and this offseason, the Giants picked up his fifth-year option on his contract, which is worth $6.8 million.
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