As a three-way player contributing as a linebacker, return specialist, and running back, Michigan's Jabrill Peppers is college football's most versatile player. But to Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh, the stamina he couples with that versatility is just as limitless.
Harbaugh told the Jamie and Stoney radio show, via the Detroit Free-Press, that Peppers just might be able to play every snap in a college game.
"Can he play every play? He might," Harbaugh said. "He might be able to play every play, especially with all the TV time-outs. Maybe it's possible -- we do try to have a bit of a pitch count with him. But he elevates and he finds another rung every single time he goes out there."
Before the season began, Harbaugh set that pitch count at around 95-100 snaps. If Peppers were to play every snap in a game on offense, defense and special teams, he would blow past that total, so don't expect the Wolverines to actually try it. But clearly, Harbaugh puts no limitations on what Peppers would be capable of if asked.
"Common sense tells you you (limit Peppers' snap count), experience says that you do and should, but he's special and he defies common sense," Harbaugh said.
NFL.com analyst Daniel Jeremiah believes Peppers' skill set is in the mold of NFL players such as Deone Bucannon, Shaq Thompson and Keanu Neal.
A third-year sophomore, Peppers could be available in the 2017 NFL Draft if he applies for early eligibility after the season. After playing various roles in the secondary and in the UM offense the last two years, along with returning kicks and, this season, adding linebacker to his resume, NFL scouts will have an opportunity to project him in any number of roles.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
