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Carolina Panthers: The Logic of Jabrill Peppers

By John Woodcock

Mar 4, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan linebacker Jabrill Peppers speaks to the media during the 2017 combine at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 4, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan linebacker Jabrill Peppers speaks to the media during the 2017 combine at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Carolina Panthers are in position to draft at number eight, but with no clear favorite what would happen if the team trades back into the twenties.

What will you do when you hear these words: the Carolina Panthers have traded their first round selection to X? Trading down remains a viable option where the Panthers hold the eighth pick and everyone seems to have rated different player differently.

Perhaps teams will be looking to trade up to grab DeShone Kizer or Mitch Trubisky if they are still on the board at that point. Perhaps there will be a run on defensive linemen and the Panthers will be willing to wait it out with Mario Addison safely resigned. Or perhaps someone will want one of the running backs targeted by the Panthers with a sweet enough deal to warrant it.

These things are possible. The Panthers once moved down to number twenty-five to grab Jon Beason. The Panthers aren’t really committed to any one player in the top ten of the draft. This would enable them to find a guy who could be available later on with the flexibility of picking up more draft picks.

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When it comes to drafting the best guy available later in the first round, one name rings for me. Thomas Davis. Obviously Davis is already on the Panthers roster. Yet the linebacker is getting on in years. His replacement already exists in Shaq Thompson. However that will leave a hole at linebacker when it happens.

Another positon that the Panthers are not sold on is safety. There it is assumed that the Panthers will go into next season with Tre Boston and Kurt Coleman leading the charge. However the confidence in Boston is an up and down thing. A more reliable option could not hurt.

Sometimes we forget that Davis was drafted as a big safety from Georgia. He was given number 47 and saw action against the Falcons as Michael Vick’s personal spy in his first year. Then he was moved to linebacker and eventually became the player he is. I am not saying that we move Davis to safety, but that the Panthers may choose to be flexible at times with their pick. After all, the Panthers could have had Derrick Johnson from that draft class.

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So how do you split the difference of having a future third linebacker or future starting safety? Simple, you trade down and draft Jabrill Peppers out of Michigan. Peppers completed both the defensive back and linebacker drills at the combine. He fits the fold of a Thompson or a Davis (more sized like pre-draft Thompson than a young Davis in bulk).

He could try to play safety while Davis played out his final seasons. Then he could either be beefed up into a linebacker or potentially he could already have made his mark in the defensive backfield. In that situation, if it ain’t broke – don’t fix it. Peppers was a terror last year at Michigan.

So don’t fret Panthers fans, if the team trades down into the draft there will still be good players available deeper into the first round. Let them surprise you.

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