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Ravens meet with Jabrill Peppers, the 'mystery' man of the 2017 draft

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- The biggest "mystery" of this year's NFL draft dropped by Baltimore this week.

Michigan's Jabrill Peppers had a pre-draft visit with the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday, according to the Houston Chronicle. There have been questions about whether Peppers can play safety in the NFL and whether he is a first-round pick.

He won the Hornung Award as the nation’s most versatile college football player, playing 15 different positions on defense, offense and special teams. But Peppers acknowledged last month at his pro day that it is legitimate to question where he will play in the league because there isn’t a lot of tape of him at safety.

"Peppers is still a bit of a mystery in terms of projection -- teams are doing a lot of homework and trying to figure out how and where he'll fit," ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. said in February.

Peppers made an impact all over the field at Michigan, where he led the team with 16 tackles for loss, recorded four sacks, rushed for 167 yards on 27 carries, caught two passes and scored a total of three touchdowns. He also averaged a Big Ten-best 14.8 yards on punt returns.

But ESPN's Todd McShay said last month he's "struggling with this evaluation" because he doesn't know where Peppers can play immediately. Peppers worked out as a linebacker and safety at the NFL combine.

"I think he could be a late first-round pick. Who knows?," McShay said "He could go in the middle of the first round. But in my opinion, he's a second-round player that you can get a lot of versatility out of, but you're going to have to have a plan for him and develop him in that role at the next level, because he's had to do so many things in college."

The Ravens are likely using this visit as a medical recheck with Peppers, who didn't play in the Orange Bowl because of an injured left hamstring. Baltimore, which has the No. 16 overall pick, would probably use Peppers as an inside linebacker to get him on the field immediately because the team signed safeties Eric Weddle and Tony Jefferson in free agency in each of the past two years.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh has some insider knowledge on Peppers because his brother Jim coached him at Michigan. John Harbaugh expects Peppers to be an "impact player in the NFL."

"There's no doubt in my mind that he can go back and play safety," John Harbaugh said. "Now, some people are questioning that, [but] having watched him workout numerous times now, there's no doubt he can play deep. Then he brings the ability to play up. He can cover tight ends, he can blitz as good as anybody I've ever seen, and he can play the run as an inside linebacker. He can line up there in your sub packages and play inside linebacker as well as anybody."

Here are the reported pre-draft visits for the Ravens:

Caleb Brantley, DT, Florida (projected second round)

Corey Davis, WR, Western Michigan (first round)

Reuben Foster, ILB, Alabama (first round)

Malik Golden, SS, Penn State (seventh round)

Josh Jones, S, NC State (second round)

Kevin King, CB, Washington (first/second round)

Tanoh Kpassagnon, DE, Villanova (third/fourth round)

Malik McDowell, DT/DE, Michigan State (first round)

Takkarist McKinley, OLB, UCLA (first round)

Raekwon McMillan, ILB, Ohio State (second round)

Jabrill Peppers, S, Michigan (first/second round)

Haason Reddick, LB, Temple (first round)

Derek Rivers, DE, Youngstown State (second/third round)

Cam Robinson, OT, Alabama (first/second round)

John Ross, WR, Washington (first round)

Mike Williams, WR, Clemson (first round)

Tim Williams, OLB, Alabama (first/second round)

Chris Wormley, DT-DE, Michigan (second/third round)

DeAngelo Yancey, WR, Purdue (seventh round)