Cleveland Browns: Jabrill Peppers activated, but can he start?
By Randy Gurzi
The Cleveland Browns activated safety Jabrill Peppers off the PUP list on Monday, but can the second-year player do enough to unseat Derrick Kindred?
A groin injury delayed the start of training camp for Cleveland Browns safety Jabrill Peppers. He started out on the PUP list but has now been activated and cleared for practice. That’s good news for the 2017 First-Round pick out of Michigan as he can finally start to get to work.
The even better news is he can begin to work at strong safety for the Browns after having to play the free safety position out of necessity a season ago.
He struggled in that role and a move to a more natural in-the-box spot should help him maximize his potential. The only question is whether or not he will be able to be a starter for Cleveland.
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Last year while Peppers was playing deep coverage, Derrick Kindred was manning the strong safety spot. He played very well and the ceiling on his potential is still high as he’s got just two seasons under his belt.
During the 2017 season, Kindred showed that he was good in pass coverage but even better against the run. He fits the bill of a prototypical strong safety, whereas Peppers is still a project who spent the majority of his collegiate career playing linebacker.
His upside is high and he’s lightning fast which allows him to get all over the field in the blink of an eye. However, he struggled in pass coverage and could benefit from sitting behind Kindred and focusing more on special teams for a season.
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Whatever the end result will be between Peppers and Kindred, we finally get to see that battle begin with the news that Peppers has been cleared.