I'm not saying this guy is Reggie White. I'm saying that in the games I stayed awake while watching, two DL seem to make important plays: Richardson and Coples. And Coples is playing out of position as a LB. I think if Ryan quit calling stupid blitzes that put Coples in coverage, he'd have better numbers. But, he's not a world beater. But, IMO, definitely a first-round pick who plays well and has crucial hits. And why is this thread "ridiculous"? I'm a Coples fan and I thought this is the place to be a fan.
Maybe the next coaching staff will let him put his hand in the dirt every play and get in the back field. Stop dropping him in coverage or jamming receivers at the line.
It's silly to declare Coples a bust amid all of the bad players that come out of each years draft. If you can get what looks to be a 7-10 year starter at defensive end out of your draft pick then that is certainly a successful pick. Just because he doesn't play at a pro-bowl level and might never play at a pro-bowl level doesn't mean that the draft pick is a bust. Coples reminds me a lot of Shaun Ellis albeit with a bit less production his first couple years in the league, but the same type of situation where Ellis was moved all around the defensive line trying to find his spot. Coples isn't a 3-4 DeMarcus Ware type rush linebacker as he doesn't possess the quickness around the edge or block shedding ability, but he's very stout at the point of attack and has some good pass rush moves and bullrush when he can put his hand in the dirt and get upfield to collapse the pocket. He's a prototype 4-3 strong side defensive end being forced into coverage and jamming wide receivers ignoring the fact that he's not a very good player in space and doesn't rush the passer very well from a two point stance. This defensive line could be absolutely deadly if placed into a 4-3 system even without the presence of a pure speed on the edge. Coples is going to be a solid player on this defensive front regardless. Not to mention go back and look at the 2012 draft. Melvin Ingram, Nick Perry, Whitney Mercilus, Courtney Upshaw, and Shea McClellin are all pass rushers drafted after Coples in that draft. Bruce Irvin, Michael Brockers The only defensive lineman that has outplayed Coples by a wide margin thus far in their NFL careers is Chandler Jones and he's been in his natural 4-3 defensive end position without being asked to play a multiple front and play in space like Coples has. Michael Brockers, Dontari Poe, Fletcher Cox & Bruce Irvin were taken before Coples and the only pro-bowler is Poe while Brockers is a 4-3 defensive tackle, Cox is a 3-4 defensive end and Irvin is now a 4-3 linebacker. Tough to compare to Coples due to the fact that they play such different positions. It just boggles my mind that people don't really understand the concept of a bust of a draft pick. Coples is a good player, he's just not an all-world player like everyone expects every draft picks to be. Go look at defensive ends like Jamaal Anderson, Jarvis Moss, Gholston, Phillip Merling, and Aaron Maybin and even as far bach as Kenechi Udeze if you want to talk about draft busts at the position.
I agree that he's not a bust, but he has not really met his realistically achievable expectations. He's got the potential to be good as a pure pass rusher, and it'll be interesting to see what the next regime does with the defensive line. Rex had a pretty lofty vision for Coples, and it looks like he will never live up to that. But that doesn't mean he can't be a good or great pass rusher and make a big impact on the team overall.
he is what he is; an average pass rusher. not bad but hasn't lived up to potential for one reason or another.
Good post. Explain something to me if you don't mind? Why is the three point stance so much more effective for him than the two point stance? Is it simply the explosion out of the crouch at the snap?
Coples was projected to be a tweener coming into the NFL with the athleticism to be a good 3T but not quite big enough and the size and strength to be a good DE but not quite quick enough. 3-4 DE seemed like a good fit for his physique and his skills. Not a pass rusher but an athletic solid defender on the border between the inside and outside of a 3-4 defense. He was an excellent DT in college and a good DE. The Jets tried him at 3-4 DE and found him wanting in Rex's scheme. The question is whether he'd be better in that role in a more traditional 3-4. The Jets also probably envisioned Coples as a big asset in the 46 look that has gone missing over the last two years. He's exactly the kind of player you want to line up right over a guard with the knowledge that the offense can't really help his assignment out much because the people on both sides also have people lined up right over them. Coples is the player most likely to be heavily impacted by a Rex Ryan departure. The new coach isn't going to see him as an OLB. It's not clear what that guy will view Coples natural role as at the NFL level. Parcells and Groh drafted Shaun Ellis to be a 3-4 DE and planned to play him on the weakside. Herm Edwards came in and said, nope this guy is a DT (the position he played in college). He wound up at strongside DE because that was the best fit.
Well said. I view Coples as a guy you want on a talented team. No, he's probably not going to be that inspiring leader, but he's probably going to be the dude that makes a play because you have Wilkerson, Richardson, and a quality NT to have to account for. Great NFL defenses have a plethora of talented players on them. The people who say "oh, he's a bum..." and want to dump him forget that, just because he has a rep for underachieving. And then, when someone points out his achievements--to my mind, he's been playing lights out as long as Richardson has, probably the last four games--they dismiss it or discount it or flat out ignore it, which the announcers have at least for the last two games. Especially the last two games, Coples has made some important plays for the defense, and last game he pretty much led the defense. And never got mentioned at all for it.
I don't understand why people say he is playing out of position. Sure, he has been asked to drop back into coverage, but all the players on our defense are asked to do that. Rex's system as for 3-4 personnel, but that is where it stops. Rex's scheme changes the defensive front all the time and Rex does a great job of doing it to player's strength. Coples reminds me a lot of Bryan Thomas. Solid player, but has not lived up to the expectation of being an elite pass rusher.
I like him a lot. He doesnt neccessarily put up the sexy numbers, but he is very disruptive if you key in on him when you watch. He hurries the QB a lot.
He doesn't deserve any.. The best thin he's done in his career as a Jet is have a good game against the Saints last year, that basically won us the game.
He's actually played well for as few weeks now... but so has PACE...and y'all know how I fell about that m'fugger..lol
Coples has plenty of talent. Like people have said, he's much more suited for the 4-3 DE role. He even played very well his rookie season as a 3-4 DE. He finished 5th overall in QB hits and 5th overall in QB sacks among 3-4 defensive ends. This is probably an example of Rex falling in love with a player and trying to make it work. Once they drafted Sheldon there was no place for Coples on the line and he had to switch positions. With Wilkerson, Richardson, Coples, and Harrison the Jets are now much better off switching to a primary 4-3 defense. We'll see what the next coach wants to do. But I firmly believe Coples can play. He's just been inconsistent
The Jets have a propensity for drafting tweeners, we think can play other positions, and never pan out. Tight ends that are too slow to play receiver, DEs that are too small to play with their hand in the dirt, so we move them to OLB. Standard Jets thinking we're the smarter than everybody else, and have been abysmal for nearly 50 years. Coples sucks. Guy has no work ethic. He'll be great in his contract year though I guarantee that, we'll sign him long term and he'll become a mainstay on special teams.
thats almost all we have been doin the past two years..ive been trying to tell people coples isnt playing "linebacker" but since his stupid depth chart postion says "olb' people just say he stinks at linebacker....if you look at where he lines up he rushes the edge with his hand in the dirt 99.9 % of the time
he is a d.e. playing olb we should run a 4/3 and let him flip sides to line up on. That is when he is the most effective rushing the passer and holding the edge. He does not get enough rushing the passer opportunities in this defense
You DO know how NFL contracts work: virtually nothing is guaranteed long-term. It's funny how people adopt whatever NEGATIVE spin is available...Like Sean Ellis before him, the guy just plays whatever position he's being asked to play without whining. He could have been like "fuck that, I'm a DE...make Richardson's ass play OLB...you know, since you all love sucking his dick raw!" But no, he just does his job... Yeah, I think that the issue is they have Pace over there. So, again, maybe Coples doesn't get the opportunity he deserves, but takes yet another one for the team. Proving you should never be too accommodating.
Coples was drafted as a 3-4 DE and played the position pretty well in his rookie year. When we signed Richardson (keep in mind that Ellis has also played some DE) Coples was left without a starting job. Last year he played OLB despite being too slow and heavy to play the position well. This year he lost some weight and played better at OLB but hasn't exactly been a sack master coming off the edge. If Rex was so good at playing his players to their strengths he would not need seventeen first rounders to run his defense (see below if you think I am exaggerating): 1. Vernon Gholsten (6th overall) 2. LaRon Landry (6th overall) 3. Dee Millner (9th overall) 4. Aaron Maybin (11th overall) 5. Sean Ellis (12th overall) 6. Sheldon Richardson (13th overall) 7. Derrell Revis (14th overall) 8. Quenton Coples (16th overall) 9. Calvin Pace (18th overall) 10. Calvin Pryor (18th overall) 11. Antonio Cromartie (19th overall) 12. Bryan Thomas (22nd overall) 13. Lito Sheppard (26th overall) 14. Jason Babin (27th overall) 15. Trevor Pryce (28th overall) 16. Kyle Wilson (29th overall) 17. Muhammad Wilkerson (30th overall)
The "we needed to play more 4-3" people need to calm down, we rushed a lot with 4 down lineman this year. In addition we don't even have a lb to play the other outside lb. Why take a player from our position of strength off the field. I think Rex has a better idea on what to do on defense then we do. I like coples, he sets the edge in both the run game and the pass game while bull rushing smaller tackles. I can't count how many times babin losses the edge or breaks contain when rushing passer. We have so many good d lineman, I don't see the issue in having him at olb since he still rushes with his hand in the ground anyway. If our cbs didn't suck at man to man, we wouldn't have to have him jam wr at the line. he gets too much flack because he isn't flashy, but he's very strong at the point of attack and you rarely see any big runs go to his side.
