Vikings Draft 2020: Five-year history of the 25th overall pick

Jabrill Peppers – S

In 2017, the Cleveland Browns had three first-round choices and in typical Browns fashion, they couldn’t hit on all three of them.

Myles Garrett was a fine choice with the No. 1 pick, even with his helmet swinging incident from last season. Cleveland took tight end David Njoku at pick 29 and he’s been out of the lineup more than in it. Before drafting Njoku though, the Browns took versatile safety Jabrill Peppers with the 25th overall selection.

Peppers hasn’t become a star in the NFL, but he is a solid player who spent two years with Cleveland before getting sent off to the New York Giants as part of the Odell Beckham trade last year.

Peppers has started 40 games in his career with 212 tackles, 13 pass breakups, three interceptions, and one sack. He’s also added value as a return man and will likely be a starter for the Giants in 2020.

As stated before, he hasn’t developed into a star, but he isn’t a bust either. So the Browns got a decent return on their investment from the 25th overall pick in 2017.

Other Players Available:

Cleveland has to cringe a bit every time they go back and look at who was on the board when they took Peppers at pick No. 25.

The Browns could’ve had a number of very talented players including Tre’Davious White, T.J. Watt, Ryan Ramczyk, or Dalvin Cook. All of these guys would’ve been much better uses of that choice.

However, there were some players who were selected around pick No. 25 that would’ve been much worse too including Taco Charlton, Malik McDowell, and Reuben Foster.

There was some tremendous value on the board at pick No. 25 in 2017 and Cleveland could’ve added a potential star if they played their cards right.