i would want to know, hopefully from some educated football minds on this forum, where would peppers be best suited to play in our defense? and how does he grade out playing specifically in that role? his versatility and talent may launch him into top 20 discussion , but does his role and skill set in a dolphins uniform justify him as a the pick @ 22 for our team?
I'm certainly not a "draft guru", or anything of that sort, but I played football for many years and have been a football fan my entire life, so I know a bit about the game.
The short answer to your question about his best position in the pros; I would think an in the box SS is where he would be best suited, and I think he could be a monster there.
When it comes to evaluating a college player for the NFL, you have to look at their skill set and try to project how those tools could be used at the next level. Remember, this is ONLY a projection, because you never know how a guy will play in the pros until he actually does it. Just look at past drafts and see how many guys have failed in the pros after being drafted at any point in the draft.
When talking about the difference between college and pro football I always say the same thing; "same sport, different game".
That takes us back to what I said in the beginning; you have to identify a player's skill set and then project how that would translate to the pro level. When it comes to the measurables, Peppers is very athletic; his forty was faster than Earl Thomas (and many other productive safeties in the NFL) and Peppers is bigger, Peppers also did well in the jumps (broad, high) and three cone at the combine. So he checks the box for having the athletic ability to play at the next level. I'm also from the camp that puts a heavy emphasis on feet and hands when evaluating a player at any position, this is also an area where Peppers shines. People will often point to point to Peppers' low ints (or should I say, int) as a sign of poor hands, but the tape does not bear that out, I did not see him drop many possible ints. Fielding punts is one of the most difficult things to do on a football field, and Peppers did VERY well in that role, and his ability to return punts shows he has great feet.
Most important factor in the evaluation is the game tape; this area can be frustrating for Peppers because he was asked to do so many different things, he does not have a large amount of tape at any one position. This freaks a lot of people out, similar to the way people are reluctant to draft QBs that have only started for one year. When I watch Pepper's tape a few things jump out at me; first he has a high football IQ, he is able to diagnose plays very quickly and know where he is supposed to be on most plays. This is especially impressive considering how many different positions he was asked to play; he's the type of player that knows everyone's job on the defense. I also see a player that is fluid in coverage, he has the ability to easily flip his hips and can mirror receivers in coverage, this is a tremendously valuable skill when it comes to coverage in the pros. He will need to develop the specific techniques to cover NFL wide outs, due to the fact that he was not asked to cover man to man very much in college, but he does posses the skill set to excel in that area. Another thing I notice with Peppers is that he LOVES contact, he is usually hitting guys with a violent strike, I tend to like guys that like to hit somebody.
Peppers does have some flaws, but at #22 you will not find many players that are completely "clean".
On the high end, Peppers has a chance to be a Troy Polamalu type with better size, at the very least he should be a productive in the box safety that also helps your team in the return game.
On a personal note; I tend to like DBs that are also productive in the return game, this shows ball skills and the whole hands and feet thing I mentioned earlier.
If this draft wasn't so loaded defensively, I think Peppers is easily a top 15 pick, or even better. The guys that are rated ahead of Peppers this year are guys that have only played safety, so they have more tape at the position and it makes GMs much more comfortable in their evaluations.