Nice to read a post from someone with management knowledge. This isn't kindergarten where everyone gets treated the same. If one person doesn't do their homework, everyone forfeits recess. Some people react different to different forms of motivation. Sanchez may not respond to a quip from Rex in the media the way Q does, so Rex has a closed door session with Nacho. That goes with all 90+ players out in TC.
Non news. This doesn't matter. Rex chooses to motivate players in different ways. People take it too seriously.
I wonder how happy he is with him now, Coples is a loaf, an should be traded in the off season, just isn't working out
Coples was our best pass-rusher last year. He's a DT being asked to play OLB. No shit he's going to struggle in the transition.
Even when rushing the passer, Coples seems to be half-assing it. Hope it has more to do with his ankle than his work effort.
I mean DT. He's a DT just like Wilk and Richardson. They are called DEs in a 3-4 system, but realistically they are DTs. They play over guards. He's playing a 3-4 OLB.
he's really been playing (the equivalent of) a 4-3 DE in Rex's system this year. Most of the time he has his hand in the dirt in a 4-man front
True. I kind of consider a 3-4 OLB and a 4-3 DE pretty equivalent- especially when it comes to pass-rushing. The OLB has more coverage responsibilities- but as far as pass rushing goes (which is what Coples is paid to do) they are pretty similar. Bottom line is he has spent his entire career pass rushing from the inside lined up against guards (with the exception of his senior year at UNC, which not-so-coincidentally was when he had a terrible year which caused his draft stock to drop). Now he's being asked to rush the outside against quicker tackles. This is not Coples' strength.
The blog turnonthejets.com has been running defensive snap count charts the last few weeks, where it is noted that Coples has gotten the majority of his snaps as "5 tech or outside" (with his hand in the dirt). From turnonthejets.com/2013/10/jets-week-6-defensive-snap-count-analysis-and-previewing-week-7/ They also ran a full article on the subject a couple of weeks ago (with game tape review). turnonthejets.com/2013/10/new-york-jets-coples-conundrum The upshot to this being that his actual usage has been as an outside rusher out of a DE stance, rather than a proper OLB with coverage and edge-setting duties. He's obviously still struggled, but this fact minimizes the impact the positional confusion has.
I was a bit late with that last bit, but wasn't Q having success from a similar position/usage on the outside of the line in his surge late last year?
Coples isn't an edge player. He's playing on the edge because the Jets have a logjam of talent in the middle of the front 7 and very little talent on the edges. They'd be better served using Coples as a rotational player inside. He's not even a particularly promising 3-4 end although he's much better there than at OLB. Never ask your players to do something they're not capable of excelling at. Especially when your talent acquisition is the reason you're contemplating asking them to suck for you.
Coples is being misused. He played well towards the end of last season. With that said I hope he gets into a groove and starts to play well.
Coples just looks like the odd man out to me. He's not good enough to play OLB, especially with the excellent play of Harrison, Wilkerson, Ellis and Richardson. Now no Barnes and with Pace slowing down (joke in there somewhere :wink Its all on Coples and its starting to look like hes not going to transition too well. My guess is that we end up trading him, maybe for a 4th, possibly a 3rd. Shame because I thought he showed plenty of promise.
If we pick up a stud OLB in the draft/FA maybe we see a different player. I would say that Coples seemed to play better with Barnes than with Pace, so maybe this what may change his game, a better OLB opposite him
I suspect part of the problem is that the absence of Barnes has limited some of the creative things they can do with Q.
