Giants.com breaks down the predictions in the latest Mock Drafts:
Giants.com was in Indianapolis for the annual NFL Scouting Combine, a week-long job interview for college football's best players leading up to the 2017 NFL Draft. We've gathered all the mock drafts to date and looked at the players who have been projected to the Giants with the No. 23 pick.
Based off these draft experts, this profile is on Michigan safety Jabrill Peppers.
COMBINE MEASUREMENTS & RESULTS
Height: 5-11
Weight: 213 lbs.
Arm length: 30 ¾"
Hands: 9 5/8"
40-yard dash:4.46 sec.
Bench press: 19 reps
Vertical jump:35.5"
*Broad jump:128"
*Best among linebackers (Peppers tied Wisconsin's T.J. Watt for first in broad jump)
*Top five among linebackers
WHAT HE BRINGS TO THE TABLE
Peppers was the No. 2 recruit in the 2014 ESPN 300 out of Paramus Catholic High School in New Jersey. He trailed only running back Leonard Fournette, another top prospect in this year's draft out of LSU. At Michigan, Peppers appeared in 27 games, making 25 starts on defense while also contributing on special teams and offense.
A consensus All-American in 2016, he won the Paul Hornung Award winner as the nation's most versatile player and placed fifth in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
WHAT THEY WERE SAYING AT THE COMBINE
NFL.com's Lance Zierlein names his instant impact draft prospects for the 2017 NFL Draft.
- TE David Njoku, Miami
14. ILB Reuben Foster, Alabama
13. CB Sidney Jones, Washington
- TE O.J. Howard, Alabama
- CB Marshon Lattimore, Ohio State
- RB Dalvin Cook, Florida State
- DT Malik McDowell, Michigan State
- DE Taco Charlton, Michigan
- Safety Jamal Adams, LSU
- Safety Malik Hooker, Ohio State
- QB Mitch Trubisky, North Carolina
- DE Jonathan Allen, Alabama
- DE Solomon Thomas, Stanford
- RB Leonard Fournette, LSU
- DE Myles Garrett, Texas A&M
"Just as fast as he ran his 40-yard dash, something that he seemed to be shooting for, the time that he had really raised a lot of eyebrows. I know there's been some discussion about what position he will play. From the sense I'm getting, I haven't heard much discussion at all; it seems to be he is a safety in the mold of Deone Bucannon, Su'a Cravens, a guy who can play all over the field. But the coaches and GM's I talk with do see him as a safety in the NFL." -- Ian Rapoport, NFL Network
WHAT JABRILL WAS SAYING AT THE COMBINE
"What do I look like? I'm a safety. I'm a safety. Yes, I'm a safety. … I was informed that since I was listed as a linebacker in college, that I had to only work out with the linebackers, so they were just going to make me do linebacker stuff. So I asked if there was somehow some way I could do the DB work, because that's what I was doing all offseason and leading up to the combine. And I told my agents that and they made it happen, and they said the only way I can do it is if I do both. I was like, that's easy. That's no problem at all."
FUN FACT
Peppers was the first player in Big Ten history to win three individual awards: Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year, Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year, and Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year
NFL COMPARISONS
Eric Weddle, Earl Thomas
"A lot of the comparisons I've heard, I haven't really been reading too much, but I'm not a Deone Bucannon or anything like that, or what's the other one, Myles Jack, or Shaq Thomas or something like that," Peppers said. "Those guys are, you know, extremely bigger than I am. So I used to model my game and still model my game after guys like Earl Thomas and guys like that."
MIKE MAYOCK'S TOP 5 SAFETIES
1. Malik Hooker, Ohio State
2. Jamal Adams, LSU
3. Jabrill Peppers, Michigan
4. Budda Baker, Washington
5. Obi Melifonwu, Connecticut
NFL.COM SCOUTING REPORT
The ultimate Swiss Army Knife on the collegiate level and will likely play a hybrid role on the next level that allows him to blitz, cover and chase. Peppers' draft value will be helped by his return ability and that is a role he should maintain throughout the earlier stages of his career. While Peppers doesn't have the production teams expect from first-round defenders, he should benefit from a role that is more clearly defined on the next level.
