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Tar Heels DL
Julius Peppers
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Editor’s note: This is the sixth in a series of articles previewing the top NFL
prospects, by position, for the 2002 draft.
No defensive player over the past 30 years has made a greater impact on the NFL than
Lawrence Taylor. Now, there is another North Carolina defensive football player who has a
chance to make a similar impact on the league. But while Taylor was always alley-cat mean
and an overly aggressive defender with a less-than-ideal work ethic and some major
character concerns, Julius Peppers is a good worker with good character who may
never come close to living up to his potential because he is not nearly as mean,
aggressive or tenacious as Taylor. He also is not nearly as productive or dominant as
Taylor was in Taylor’s last year in college.
Peppers is about 6-6, 285 pounds with the wingspan of a 7-footer and the body of a
Greek god. He looks almost skinny at 285 and only has about six percent body fat. He can
run the 40-yard dash in about 4.6 seconds, bench press over 400 pounds and vertical jump
35-37½ inches. He has freakish athletic ability, and at times, he will make plays
that nobody else could even conceive of making. If you wanted the physical prototype of an
NFL defensive end, you would probably end up very close to what Peppers is. A two-sport
All-American in high school, Peppers also has been the sixth man on the Tar Heels’
basketball team. In the first start of his collegiate basketball career, he scored 18
points against a very good Maryland team last year. He also was an almost dominating
inside player at times in the NCAA tournament. However, while Peppers is often viewed as a
fierce gamer on the hardwood, scouts wish a little bit more of that spark would carry over
to the football field. With Peppers’ size, speed, strength, athleticism and ability
to bend his knees and play in a good football position, he should be as dominating as
Taylor was on a weekly basis. But despite all the Heisman Trophy hype you hear, he is not
close to that type of player yet. When the Tar Heels squared off against Georgia Tech in
what may have been the most pivotal game of their season, Nat Dorsey, Tech’s true
freshman left tackle, almost completely shut Peppers down and clearly outplayed him for
most of the game. Even if Dorsey turns out to be the next Anthony Munoz, a player with
Peppers’ ability should never be shut down that way by one offensive lineman who is
not getting much help. Nevertheless, if you look at Jevon Kearse’s career at Florida,
he was almost the same type of player Peppers was, looking like a human highlight film a
few times a year but often disappearing when he should be taking over the game and
dominating.
Before this season began, many scouts felt Tennessee DT John Henderson, not
Peppers, would be the top-rated defender and perhaps even the top player in the draft.
However, Henderson sprained his ankle in the opener against Syracuse and has only shown
flashes of his great pro potential since then. Henderson is a huge and very powerful man
inside who can be explosive. While he lacks great initial quickness, he runs very well for
a big man and plays hard most of the time. A neat freak off the field, Henderson is also a
good worker who will study films, but he still has a tendency to play too upright and does
not always seem to be as aware and instinctive as he should be. Henderson has a history of
lower-back problems, and when that is combined with his height, it could be the reason why
he has a hard time playing with a good, low pad level. He seems to run out of gas quickly,
and there are times when his unheralded sidekick, Albert Haynesworth, looks like the more
physically dominating player.
At 6-5 and 250 pounds with the frame to play at 270 and very long arms, it is hard to
say if South Carolina’s Kalimba Edwards will be an NFL defensive end or
linebacker. (Edwards’ injured left knee leaves his status questionable for the
Gamecocks’ bowl game.) However, two things are almost certain. He is a terrific
athlete, and the team that drafts him had better either play a 3-4 scheme and plan to put
him at outside rush linebacker or have a plan for how they are going to use him. Edwards
has the ease of motion and ability to bend his knees and turn his hips to play linebacker,
but he does not always look like a natural there. As an end, he has the wingspan,
quickness and speed to be a big-time rusher but is not very strong or stout and has a hard
time getting free if he does not beat the blocker cleanly. Despite what he does or does
not do in the weight room, his play strength as a down end is a concern. Some feel he can
be another Jevon Kearse, but others have compared him to Aundray Bruce, who was the first
pick in the 1988 draft and a king-sized outside linebacker/undersized defensive end who
never really panned out.
As a sophomore defensive tackle at Wisconsin, Wendell Bryant may have been the
best defensive lineman in the Big Ten. He had a monster game against a Michigan offensive
line that was loaded with future NFL players. However, over the past two years, he has not
been as eye-catching or productive. The biggest rap on Bryant is that he really struggles
vs. double-team blocks and has become so frustrated that at times he will just turn his
back on them. In the one game in which he was rarely doubled, he just killed Penn State.
But against Illinois, he was a nonfactor and seemed totally frustrated. Bryant is a good
athlete who can be quick and almost sudden at times. He has an upfield burst and runs well
but not super. He can play with leverage but still needs to get a lot stronger in the
weight room and learn not to let himself get beaten down by the double-team blocks he
faces. Great players get doubled but still split the blocks and win out at times.
Notre Dame’s Anthony Weaver is a very good football player and a terrific
worker who has long arms and excellent weight-room numbers. However, he is no Bryant Young
and is a bit of an NFL DT-DE tweener. At 280-290 pounds, he is not going to be the
dominating inside player who can stuff the run or beat a double team, and he does not have
the suddenness off the edge or closing speed to be a great outside rusher as an end.
The best pure pass rusher in the draft right now could be Syracuse’s Dwight
Freeney, but at 6-1 and 250 pounds, where he will fit in on an NFL defense remains to
be seen. If used right, he may be a Fred Dean type of player. He is superquick and sudden
and has an explosive, upfield burst. He has a great first step and can counter in a flash,
but his size is still a major concern. Another concern is durability, since until this
year, he had missed a lot of time with injuries.
In DE Bryan Thomas and DT Eddie Freeman, Alabama-Birmingham has the two
best senior defensive linemen in the state of Alabama. Thomas is a speed rusher with great
quickness who is learning to use his hands and to counter inside. He has gotten better
every year and has learned to play with leverage and to get under blockers. Playing low
enough is Freeman’s biggest problem. He tends to let his base get too narrow and his
pads way too high, which makes it easy to block him and hard for him to change directions
or go laterally. However, when he plays with a good pad level, he has the size, speed and
power to be a factor.
Florida’s Alex Brown has never lived up to all his hype, and while he is
playing harder this year, he still is not a consistent competitor. Brown has exceptional
initial quickness and a real burst up the field. He is very athletic and can counter
inside very well. He is using his hands much better when he rushes and can shed on the
move, but he is undersized. He also does not take on blockers well at the point of attack,
and he will let up if you frustrate him, or if the play is away from him.
Washington DT Larry Triplett is a good athlete who shows flashes and can play
with leverage and some power. He is quick into gaps and can be very disruptive, but he is
not a top pass rusher or as mean as he needs to be. At 6-1, his height is a factor, and he
is not a two-gap type of nose tackle.
UCLA DE Kenyon Coleman and Mississippi State DT Dorsett Davis really look
the part, but they do not fill the role often enough. Both have upside but are far from
top football players at this point. Coleman had a couple of decent games but then
regressed. He lacks lower-body strength but is very strong through the chest. Davis may
never be a pass rusher and seems to lack something, but he is huge and not a bad athlete
for his size.
Fresno State’s Alan Harper needs to get stronger, but he is a quick,
instinctive, productive, undersized player who is much more quick than fast.
Tennessee’s Will Overstreet is a DE-OLB tweener with great intangibles and
a history of leg and back problems. Hampton’s Greg Scott, Minnesota’s Greg
White, Georgia Tech’s Nick Rogers and Purdue’s Akin Ayodele
are other tweener types you need a plan for. All can rush the passer and are good athletes
who would be linebackers in a Steelers’ type of 3-4 scheme.
Both of BYU’s defensive ends, Ryan Denney and Brett Keisel, are
prospects who have to overcome some factors. Denney has great height, but he must learn to
play stronger with better leverage. Keisel has strength, tenacity and straight-line speed,
but he is not that athletic and needs to use his hands better.
While Julius Peppers gets all the publicity, North Carolina’s best overall
defensive lineman this year has been DT Ryan Sims. However, while Peppers is an
eye-catcher who makes the highlight-film plays, Sims is more of a grunt who does the dirty
work and keeps blockers off his linebackers. He is a very powerful inside player who has
good initial quickness and reactions. He feels and fights pressure well, has much better
use of his hands and technique than Peppers, controls the line and pushes the pocket. He
also can be an effective player in both a one- and two-gap defensive scheme. However,
while he is quick, he lacks speed and long closing ability, and he is not going to run an
eye-catching 40-time.
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