Cleveland Browns: Evaluating the Browns safeties

Jabrill Peppers

Peppers was the second of the three first round picks the Browns had in 2017. He brought value to the Browns because of his versatility, as he could play as a safety or a linebacker.

But the Browns rarely used him in the box last season as they did not have any other player that could resemble a free safety. And the results of him playing deep were not good. He often would take awful routes that led to busted coverages or would put him out of position to make a tackle.

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On the season, he recorded 57 tackles, one interception, and three pass deflections.

But after an injury to Derrick Kindred at the end of the season, Peppers played the last two weeks of the season playing closer to the line of scrimmage. That is when Peppers showed his potential in the NFL.

In those two games, he only recorded seven tackles, but he looked much more comfortable making plays to stop the run.

He also recorded his only interception of the season when he was playing closer to the line of scrimmage in the box.

With the moves that Dorsey made this offseason, Peppers is going to be able to play closer to the line of scrimmage for most of the 2018 season.

Playing in a position that he is more comfortable in should help him have more of an impact on the team’s 2018 defense.