BTN analyst lauds Peppers: 'He is an elite player'

Many have looked at the Michigan football team's talent level and wondered where the impact will originate.

Seeing just one practice today -- and a few in the past -- Big Ten Network analyst Howard Griffith has no problem picking out a star.

When the crew visited Ann Arbor this morning, redshirt freshman safety Jabrill Peppers stood out as expected. Griffith has seen him a few times now and can tell the difference between him and others.

"There's no question he is an elite player," Griffith said. "I think he has the skill set to be a Big Ten defensive player of the year. He has those type of skills, he has the ability to be a difference-maker and the (Michigan) coach looked at me and agreed. What separates him? He has all the talent but it's what he does in practice. He works in practice, he's working all the time. It's what gets players over the edge to be a great player."

What makes Peppers impact the game is his versatility.

"He literally can line up anywhere," Griffith said after the practice. "He's that big and physical and loves contact. You love the guys that have got the skill set to be able to cover as well as he can … Those are some of the things that stand out beyond his physical stature."

Being able to move Peppers will help the experienced defense, but last season's problem was more that the defense was on the field too long, with the offense continually turning the ball over.

That made it surprising to hear junior quarterback Shane Morris – who has five career interceptions and no touchdowns in 87 career passes -- out-performed fifth-year transfer Jake Rudock, who had just five interceptions in 345 attempts last season.

"I think it's close, Morris may have had a good day early and Rudock may have stumbled, but he bounced back," Griffith said. "This one is going to be interesting. It's hard to make that assessment because they were so close, only seeing one practice. It's got to be a competition that these coaches have a chance to look at in its totality. It's going to come down to scrimmages. I wouldn't be surprised if it came down to Week 1, Week 2 before they really know.

"That's not necessarily optimal but I think these coaches have a good gauge of when they want to pull the trigger and the players are going to be the ones who are going to tell them."

Shane Morris takes most of No. 1 QB snaps

The difference in Morris this year is his composure.

"What we saw in games before was turning the ball over," Griffith said. "As you continue to grow as a player, you tend to take care of the ball a lot better. Look at Rudock, he got pretty good at that. Having (Rudock) here, has really elevated the competition because for awhile there, there really hasn't been competition at that position…. Those guys are pushing each other."

The stronger arm was apparent to Griffith watching the workout.

Watching the practice run by new coach Jim Harbaugh, Griffith could tell a difference from the past with the Wolverines.

He said there was more special teams work in this practice than any he could remember in his nine years on the camp tour, noting "that's one of the areas where they have to win. All coaches go into a game saying we've got to win two of the three phases. The one thing they really have a lot of control over is special teams."

As a former player at Illinois and a two-time Super Bowl champion, Griffith also sees the nuances and noticed that the U-M players were more engaged than in the past, looking at the coaches during the drills and not glancing off during the action.

As for that supposed lack of talent?

Griffith said there's enough to win.

"They're right behind Nebraska (and Michigan State) and could be the third-most talented team we've seen," he said, noting that other teams remain, obviously including Ohio State. "This is a team that's not void of talent. I think they're closer to getting back to Michigan football than I anticipated."

There was no separation among the running backs in the one practice – "Do they have their Toby Gearhart that Harbaugh had at Stanford? I don't know that he's emerged" -- and he noted the receivers "have to get more consistent."

But is there enough to compete in those big games against Michigan State and Ohio State?

"It's not out of the realm of possibility," Griffith said. "They're not so depleted as a football team talent-wise that they can't stay in games. But they can't afford turnovers, they can't afford to give up fundamental things, big plays defensively."

Contact Mark Snyder at msnyder@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @mark__snyder.

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