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Peppers has it all, including doubters

UNC defensive end Julius Peppers has unique skills, but nagging naysayers remain.

By DARRELL FRY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 19, 2002

After three seasons of dominating college football, North Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers may have finally come across the one blocker he can't get around.

Doubt.

With the NFL draft a day away, Peppers is indisputably the top defensive player in the pool and is projected to be the second overall pick by Carolina. But it seems like every gushing assessment of his ability comes with a caveat.

He could be the next Lawrence Taylor, but does he take plays off? He has unique athleticism as a two-sport college player (basketball and football), but does he lack football instincts? He has the ideal size, weight and speed of a first-rate NFL pass rusher, but can he be intense over a 16-game season?

Peppers has heard the whispers, but remains confident he will live up to the glowing expectations.

"I think it's possible," Peppers, 22, said at the NFL combine in Indianapolis. "I want to maximize my potential as a player. I want to get as good as I can possibly be. If I do that, I think I could be one of the best players ever."

Plenty of analysts agree. At 6 feet 6 and 285 pounds, he is the quintessential defensive end prospect. He is said to be remarkably fit with a body fat of about 6 percent. He has a surprisingly wide wingspan that makes throwing over him difficult and led to several eye-opening interceptions last season.

He has exceptional speed (4.7-second 40), which makes him a threat to run down ball carriers and helped him rack up 301/2 sacks in three seasons, second-most in school history. He had 15 as a sophomore, the most in the nation that season. And he also had 53 career tackles for losses.

He wasn't nearly as decorated as a basketball player. He was mostly the Tar Heels' sixth man and averaged 4.5 points, 3.5 rebounds during the 1999-2000 season. He gave it up his senior season to concentrate on football.

"(Football) is my sport," he said. "This is the sport that's going to give me my greatest challenge."

The mere fact Peppers was gifted enough to play two sports made him even more appealing to NFL scouts. In fact, his bubbling talent has caused some folks to compare him with Taylor, another Tar Heels star who became arguably the greatest NFL linebacker.

Peppers has downplayed the comparisons, not wanting to fan already inflated expectations.

"I want to be my own player. I want to be Julius Peppers," he said. "I don't want to be the next Lawrence Taylor. I don't want to have to live with his legend. I want to be my own person."

The Panthers, who have their pick of the field since the Texans have signed Fresno State quarterback David Carr as the top pick, like what they see in Peppers. Mostly.

"Everything I've seen on tape, everything everybody has seen and told us about him, they all talk about his height, weight, speed on the level of guys like him don't come along very often," Panthers coach John Fox said at last month's NFL owners meetings in suburban Orlando. "Obviously, he is a well thought of player in the draft, including by the Carolina Panthers, and someone we're going to look at very closely."

Still, doubts linger. Panthers officials have been noncommittal and while Carr's deal is reportedly for seven years and $46.5-million the Panthers say they have no plans to even begin talking contract with Peppers.

"We don't have any plans to talk to anybody yet," general manager Marty Hurney told the Charlotte Observer on Tuesday. "We're not at that point yet. And I don't think we'll do that."

Word is, the Panthers are weighing several options, including trading down to get more picks, a sign that Peppers' stock may be slipping. Carolina could trade down a couple of spots and still find Peppers available.

Then again, some projections rate Peppers as the best player in the draft despite whispers about his consistency.

Peppers remains mostly unfazed.

"I didn't take plays off this year. I had games where I had better stats than others, but it wasn't because I wasn't playing hard," he said. "I gave the same effort every game. It was just different situations. Different teams put me in different situations.

"I look at it as I'll try to get myself better. People say I'm not doing this. Even though I think I'm doing it pretty well, I'll still try to improve on it."

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