Jabrill Peppers a first-round pick, heading to Cleveland

Jabrill Peppers is going from maize and blue to brown.

Cleveland Brown.

Peppers, the former Paramus Catholic standout and Michigan All-American, was selected 25th overall in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns, ending a long-held debate about where he would end up in the NFL.

Peppers can make an immediate impact for the Browns, who have struggled for years and who traded down in the first round after taking Myles Garrett with the first overall pick.

Once the Bears moved up to No. 2 to take quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and the Browns knew they wouldn't get the quarterback they most coveted, they gave Houston the No. 12 pick in exchange for next year's second-rounder, allowing the Texans to take Deshaun Watson. The Browns then stayed put late in the round, ultimately pairing Peppers with Garrett, two major defensive additions for head coach Hue Jackson and even more so for defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who has a reputation for creativity in formations and play-calling.

That could be a boon for Peppers, who can contribute on defense as a safety, either free or strong, as a nickel corner, and also on special teams as a returner.

A versatile athlete, Peppers lined up at as many as 15 positions last season for Michigan, earning himself a spot among the Heisman trophy finalists, but always projected as a defensive back, particularly a safety who can be very effective down in the box.

“He’s one of my favorite players in this draft,” NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said. “Just have a plan for this kid.”

For the last few days, it appeared Peppers’ draft plans might go awry, as his pre-draft profile took a sharp turn on Monday, when news broke he had tested positive for a diluted urine sample at the NFL Scouting Combine in March.

The ensuing explanation from his representatives at CAA, that he had overhydrated due to the combination of illness and working out with both the linebackers and defensive backs in Indianapolis, could certainly be true. But the concern among league representatives is that Peppers was trying to flush a foreign substance from his system, with speculation and possibilities ranging from marijuana to performance enhancers. Regardless, Peppers is classified as having failed a drug test and thus becomes a Stage One entrant in the league’s drug program.

Monday’s news only added another layer to an already complicated discussion about Peppers as a player, with opinions so varied the former Heisman Trophy finalist had ranged anywhere from a top 10 pick to a middle-to-low second-rounder.

For some NFL teams, the dizzying combination of skills made him a no-brainer first round pick, a natural fit for defenses fighting to keep up with the game’s evolving offenses, a guy who can line up in the box and take on backs and tight ends, but who can also manage well enough in coverage to stay on the field, the type of player one NFL personnel executive told me “used to be a luxury pick, but not anymore.”

For other teams, the respect for his versatility was tempered too much by his lack of one true position, a profile that makes it impossible for them to give him a first-round grade for the role he would ultimately play. That was the opinion of another high-level scouting executive, who described in a text what his front office concluded about Peppers: “Really good football player that does not have a position. Not big enough to for LB. Lacks coverage ability to play nickel back or down safety. Lacks instinct to play free safety. Best position is probably running back but has not played that since high school. Do not know if he is willing to do that.”

Considering the price he paid for participating in two different positions at the combine, it's tough to imagine Peppers would have wanted to consider an offensive role too. The decision to do drills with the linebackers on the Sunday of the combine and defensive backs on Monday is apparently the reason Peppers was drinking up to 10 bottles of water at night, according to the CAA statement. But going back to the interview session Peppers held Saturday in Indianapolis, that decision was his own.

“Well, I was informed that since I was listed as a linebacker in college that I had to only work out with the linebackers, they were only going to make me do linebacker stuff, so I asked if I asked if I there was somehow, some way I could do the DB work because that’s what I was doing all off season and leading up to the combine,” Peppers said. “I told my agents that and they made it happen. They said the only way I could do it is if I do both. I was like, ‘that’s easy. That’s no problem at all.’”

In the end, the positive test proved no problem to his being a first-round pick.

Email: sullivan@northjersey.com