There has never been any questions regarding the endless talent of New York Giants safety Jabrill Peppers, the former Heisman Trophy finalist at Michigan who starred at two New Jersey high school powerhouses in Don Bosco and Paramus Catholic.
Peppers was a first-round pick of the Cleveland Browns in the 2017 NFL Draft (25th overall) and his inconsistent play caused the Browns to make him expendable. He was traded to the Giants in the Odell Beckham Jr. blockbuster in 2019.
Giants general manager Dave Gettleman insisted on the Browns including Peppers in the trade. Last year, with the Giants, they saw some of that inconsistency with Peppers but they also witnessed what a game-changing force he can be.
Peppers’ season was cut short in late November by a fracture in his lower back. He has been rehabbing the past few months, but now that rehab appears to be over according to several of his former coaches.
Peppers has been working out with the Giants’ fourth-round pick in this year’s draft, UCLA cornerback Darnay Holmes, and the 24-year-old is drawing rave reviews.
“The goal is to prepare Jabrill and Darnay for camp so that when they get into the facility, it’s second nature to them,” Brian Walker, Peppers’ former coach at Paramus, told SI.com’s Pat Ragazzo via a phone interview. “They will already be used to being outside and breaking and just getting that momentum going there…this is the best he’s ever looked.”
Both Peppers and Holmes are being worked at multiple positions this summer to increase their value to the Giants. The enormously gifted Peppers has always been a player who has been fungible to defensive coordinators and landed at safety in the NFL because, well, he has play somewhere. That doesn’t mean that he’ll just be playing safety, though.
“From all my studying and playing experience, I think he (Peppers) could be a top corner in the league if he was moved there,” Walker said. “(Patriots defensive back) Stephen Gilmore wasn’t so much that guy until he got into the Patriots system. Great defensive backs need a great system to succeed. I think they’ll do very well with this new coaching staff.”
