{"id":40091,"date":"2022-03-30T06:50:16","date_gmt":"2022-03-30T10:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=40091"},"modified":"2022-04-06T12:44:44","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T16:44:44","slug":"jabrill-peppers-signing-an-intriguing-possibility-for-the-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2022\/03\/30\/jabrill-peppers-signing-an-intriguing-possibility-for-the-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Jabrill Peppers Signing An Intriguing Possibility For the Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Patriots have signed former Giants safety Jabrill Peppers to a one-year contract. The contract is worth up to $5 million dollars including incentives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At first glance, the Patriots&#8217; signing of Peppers seemed like an unnecessary one. Safety was one of the deeper positions on the team as the Patriots have Devin McCourty, Adrian Phillips, Kyle Dugger, Justin Bethel, and Cody Davis (mainly special teams). Last year they drafted Joshuah Bledsoe who was injured, knowing he wouldn\u2019t contribute in 2021.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, the 2022 Patriots safety position is stacked. Peppers is still just 26 and stands at 5\u201911, 215.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But Peppers is a Swiss Army Knife who could find himself in a multitude of roles on both the defense and on special teams. His signing opens up an intriguing set of options for the Patriots coaching staff.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Peppers was reportedly on many draft analysts\u2019 radar for the Patriots during the 2017 NFL Draft coming out of Michigan as he was considered a perfect fit for Bill Belichick and the defense. Peppers brings that athletic upside to the defense that was needed after 2021 and could significantly play snaps all over the field.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the 2017 NFL Combine, Peppers ran a 4.46 in the 40-yard Dash as well as a 6.99 in the 3-Cone Drill, something the Patriots put great stock in. The Giants\u2019 defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, a former member of Belichick\u2019s staff used Peppers in much the same way, we expect Belichick to use him as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2020, Peppers played 912 defensive snaps:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">383 in the box\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">264 as the slot cornerback<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">143 as the free safety<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">44 as the boundary cornerback.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Giants&#8217; defense in 2020 was ranked 9th in points allowed, and 10th against the run. In 2021, Peppers was injured and tore an ACL in Week 6, and the team dropped seven of their last eight games the defense ranked 25th in points scored and 25th against the run.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prior to his ACL injury, Peppers played in just 229 defensive snaps but they played out much the same:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">107 as the slot cornerback<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">60 in the box<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">32 as an edge rusher<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">19 as a boundary cornerback<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">11 as a free safety<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, the caveat to all of this is whether Peppers will be the same player once his ACL heals. Early reports state that he\u2019ll be ready to go by training camp. And if that is the case, then it opens up some intriguing options.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One thing to keep in mind is that we\u2019re still on in March, and the team building is still in its infancy. So there are still plenty of moves to come both in free agency and the upcoming NFL Draft that will take place at the end of April.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But at first glance, Peppers could easily be seen as being the Patriots&#8217; punt returner since they declined to offer Gunner Olszewski a contract this spring and who subsequently signed with the Steelers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Belichick loves players who are versatile and signing one as athletic as Peppers naturally got the creative juices flowing trying to figure out how they plan on not only using Peppers but their other safeties.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With a lack of depth at cornerback, on the surface, we could see a lot of three and perhaps even four safety looks from the defense, as the team will try to go lighter and faster. Jonathan Jones hinted at a \u201cpositionless\u201d defense earlier this month, which means that they may decide to play a multitude of defensive backs in an interchangeable defense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It would be a classic Belichick move to play a safety-heavy defense with the price of cornerbacks getting out of control. I\u2019m sure sports talk radio (that are trying to the ridiculous notion that he\u2019s on the hot seat) will hate it.\u00a0 We\u2019ll see how it all plays out, as we said, it is still very early.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Playing out of the slot, Peppers has been effective in covering tight ends and smaller wide receivers as well as blitzing off the edge. Peppers will fit into that hybrid safety\/linebacker role that both Phillips and Dugger have played effectively. It is another under-the-radar signing that won\u2019t excite many in the fan base but may very well pay nice dividends once the season starts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ll be watching to see how well Peppers can run once the players hit the field this summer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at<\/span><\/i> <a href=\"mailto:stevebpatsfans@gmail.com\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">stevebpatsfans@gmail.com<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Listen to our<\/span><\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.blogtalkradio.com\/patriotsfourthandtwo\"> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patriots 4th and 2<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> podcasts on Stitcher and Streamyard as Russ Goldman, Derek Havens, and myself from<\/span><\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/\"> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PatsFans.com<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> discuss the latest Patriots news and game analysis.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Peppers will fit into that hybrid safety\/linebacker role that both Phillips and Dugger have played effectively<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":40096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_pfeai_meta_description":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[22779,22766,11,10],"tags":[21909,34,21783,121,2163,22590,2199,2303,44,8,848],"class_list":["post-40091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2022-nfl-offseason","category-2022-patriots-offseason","category-patriots-commentary","category-patriots-news","tag-adrian-phillips","tag-bill-belichick","tag-cody-davis","tag-devin-mccourty","tag-jabrill-peppers","tag-joshuah-bledsoe","tag-justin-bethel","tag-kyle-dugger","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-patriots","tag-patriots-safeties"],"yoast_head":"<!-- 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