Report: UM’s Peppers tests positive for diluted sample

Heisman Trophy finalist from Michigan Jabrill Peppers, poses with the award in New York, Friday, Dec. 9, 2016.
Heisman Trophy finalist from Michigan Jabrill Peppers, poses with the award in New York, Friday, Dec. 9, 2016.

Jabrill Peppers' first-round draft projection has seemed shaky much of the month.

It would seem to be in a tougher spot now.

ESPN.com's Adam Schefter reported Monday afternoon Peppers had a problem with his drug test at the NFL scouting combine in early March.

"NFL notified teams that Michigan's Jabril Peppers tested positive for a dilute sample at the combine, league sources tell ESPN," Schefter tweeted.

A diluted sample means Peppers provided a urine sample that was too watered down.

The NFL treats diluted samples as positive tests, which means Peppers will enter the NFL in Stage 1 of the league's intervention program. As such, he'll be subject to further random drug testing plus fines and suspensions for future positive tests.

Peppers' agency, Creative Artists Agency, offered a quick response to Schefter.

"Peppers went to the combine. He was sick after flying there from San Diego. He has a history of cramping. Peppers was being pumped with fluids, drinking 8-10 bottles of water before he went to bed, because he was the first guy to work out two days for the LBs and DBs. He had to go through that first day, come back on second day, and that was the fear. So Peppers was pounding water and under the weather. He never failed a drug test in his life, nor tested positive before for any substance."

In ESPN's most recent mock draft, analyst Mel Kiper projected Peppers to be picked No. 15 overall by the Indianapolis Colts and he has consistently listed Peppers with a higher projection than most of the other draft analysts. On a conference call with reporters Monday afternoon, Kiper didn't see the diluted sample/positive test as a crushing obstacle. Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster, a likely top-20 pick in the first round Thursday, also tested positive for a dilute sample.

"It's not like [Peppers] was a top-10 pick in the mock drafts, in the team to player mocks," Kiper said. "I'd be surprised if he got out of the first round. They're talking about Foster getting in the teens? He was projected to be in the teens. Some think he can get in the 20s now. We'll see."

Kiper has studied the draft and spoken to NFL personnel for years and understands the positive test impact is not the same for every team.

"He's a guy you have to look at it, every team's going to evaluate it and you hear what his side says about what the reason was and you've heard the same thing from Foster's camp," Kiper said. "You've got to look at it and evaluate it. I think [his agency] made the point he's never had any issues before. ... It's a 32-team league and some teams in the late first round didn't think they'd see him there and may see him still on the board at that point. They look at it a lot differently than teams picking in the top 10 would."

In college, schools do not reveal a player's drug test results due to privacy considerations.

Peppers' missed games at Michigan were all attributed to injury by the school. He missed the final 2/3 of his true freshman season, 2014, with an announced leg injury, leading to his redshirt. In his second season, 2015, he sat out the Citrus Bowl with an undisclosed hand injury, despite saying the day before he would play. And in his third season, 2016, he missed the Orange Bowl with a reported quad injury.

Sports on 04/25/2017

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