Despite ending last season with a 7-6 record, optimism is high for the Michigan Wolverines in 2014. One big reason for the excitement was the addition of highly-touted freshman Jabrill Peppers.
Unfortunately for the Wolverines and Peppers, the star cornerback has been sidelined with an undisclosed injury sustained in practice, Michigan reports:
Dan Murphy of ESPN indicates he will not play against Minnesota:
After an embarrassing loss at home to Utah, the Wolverines can't afford to have a star like Peppers sidelined for very long.
Peppers was the top-ranked athlete and No. 3 overall prospect in the 2014 class, according to 247Sports.com. He played cornerback and returned punts for the Wolverines this season.
Hoke loved the idea of using Peppers as a punt returner, telling Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press on August 22 that it gave the team an added dynamic:
No. 1, we’re putting a lot of our best guys on the field, that’s a plus. We’ve had some the last three years that have been decent, some that we haven’t maybe fielded the ball as well as we should sometimes. All through every special teams we want to get improvement.
In addition to his value in the return game, Peppers' presence in the secondary is necessary for the success of this team. Hoke's done a great job bringing talent to Ann Arbor, but the defense ranked 61st in pass yards allowed per game (231.3) last season.
Even though he's a freshman, Peppers has skills that very few players in the country do. That's what made him such a sought-after recruit and why expectations are sky high for him right away. Losing him for any length of time changes the dynamic of Michigan's secondary.
The Wolverines started the season unranked in the preseason polls after going just 7-6 last year, so there were already some questions about how good Hoke's team is going to be in 2014.
Losing Peppers, who has the potential to be what Charles Woodson once was, certainly isn't going to quiet any of those concerns. It's also a huge setback for him, since every rep he can get is added experience to help him reach his full potential sooner than expected.
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