I saw something on SI or ESPN basically already declaring him the Defensive Rookie of the Year after the first preseason game.
Yeah it looks like he had a good play where he hit Rodgers, Rodgers threw a pick and then Ingram had a great block. Statistically it wasn't that great. 0 sacks, 0 FF, 2 Tackles, 1 QB hit. Coples had 5 tackles inc 2 TFLs, 1 sack, 1 fumble and 1 pass defense. Granted he probably played more minutes as well and was against the 2s for most of the game. You can't not be happy about that, however. Obviously it's way too soon to judge, but looks like we got the better pick.
i actually watched ingram for the purpose of comparison and he looked very active in flowing to the ball. the chargers have a couple good young guys on their D so that should be a decent unit eventually. coples had as good an outing as ingram - maybe a tad better but so what at this point. what fans chirp about is coples is kind of an inside guy, good against the run and will push the pocket; while ingram looks like he can control the perimeter with his speed and instinct, and get around the corner. so which kind of player fits best for the jets??
Pats fans are just as high on Jones as Jet fans are about Coples...and for good reason. HOWEVER, I very much doubt the rest of the preseason will be as smooth for either player. It's like when the young pitcher comes up from the minors and wows the team in his first few starts, and then 2 month later is back in the minors. The sad fact is that once teams have gotten some film on these guys, and once they start actually game planning for them, it will quickly become much more difficult for either of them to flash as brightly as they did in their first exhibition game. It will be more difficult for them in the next game, and even more difficult the game after that, etc. How each responds to the bar being continually raised will BEGIN to determine what kind of player each will ultimately become.
If defenses are actually game-planning specifically for Coples that makes him a homerun of a pick in my book. Especially with guys like Wilkerson Harris Revis Cromartie still being out there. Cant gameplan for everyone Though I do agree they both wont look as good, but I think thats more of a factor of the starters playing more and more the next 2 games, so these guys will be going against first string offenses instead of backup OLs/QBs
After watching this I didn't see him "take off" very many plays. Nor does it look like he has a "low" motor. I'm liking Coples and I can't wait for more.
I really don't buy that at all. Usually when d-line guys are gonna suck, they suck right from the beginning (coughGHOLSTONcough). I also don't buy that teams "game-planning" will really change much. I mean, if you watch compilation out there where it just shows all the defensive plays from the Jets Bengals games, they were double teaming Coples for a large part of the game, and he was still a factor. I actually think that ultimately Ingram and Coples will both be successful in this league.
He got pressure quite a few times where the QB had to get rid of the ball early. If our coverage was better for when he was on the field it would have ended better on a few of them.
The Bengals 2's and 3's started running away from Coples because he was so disruptive. That's a pretty good sign, even if it was against 2's and 3's.
One difference is Ingram was making plays against the Packer starters, while Coples did his damage against backups and 3rd-stringers.
Not once in this thread has anyone said he looked confused, lost and slow. That's got to be good for something.
Thanks for posting that - I'm more excited after seeing this. I hate to gush after a single preseason game but I'm going to. This is a guy that just gets it - excellent instinctive football player, plays with good leverage most of the time, powerful, quick, great hand fighting skills, can control his blocker well, good awareness - the sky is the limit really. My biggest criticism of him at this point is that he stands up at times giving up leverage, mostly when he's double teamed. If he can learn how to fight off a double team he could be elite. If he keeps playing like he did in his debut he's going to be seeing a lot of double teams. Commanding double teams alone will help the defense, if he can defeat double teams on a semi-regular basis it could be a game changer for the D. I'll be surprised if someone doesn't tell me to wait before I put him in canton.
He's a rookie. If he does what Wilkerson did last year it will be a great beginning. The guy who might break out is Wilkerson. If Coples is real pressure next to him it will be something he didn't have last year and if Pace is still pressure opposite, well that could be special.
What kind of still fascinates me about Coples is that he really seems to do best as a 4-3 DT. He's a really big dude, bigger than I thought. In that video of him vs. the Bengals I ended up just looking for the biggest guy on the line at the start of every play when I wanted to see where Coples was lined up. He seems really disruptive up the middle, very capable of splitting the double team and very hard to block 1on1. Plus he looked great against the run. I don't know if I'd prefer Coples to gain a little weight and just become an unblockable DT beast, or shed a few pounds and become a great edge rushing DE. His natural skill set seems a little more geared towards the former.
