stop - Vernon Gholston was a special level of suck. The two players shouldn't be mentioned in the same paragraph.
Coples got stuck in coverage a few times the other night and it didn't work well. I always thought Coples played his best ball on the interior line. He's definitely not a coverage guy and in today's NFL you need linebackers that are speedy and can cover. He's not bad when he doesn't have to worry about coverage, but QBs will probably try to exploit him when they can.
What is Bowles base defensive front? I've read that he ran a very high percentage of nickel last year, but don't pretend to know.
Very true - our linebackers for the most part are either old, slow or both. The 4 man front, we can put our best players on the line and the Jets can own the line of scrimmage. So much more flexibility as well.
Everything I have read says he runs 34 base, but had to get creative and run a lot of d-back heavy formations because of injury. I haven't heard of anyone in the NFL actually using a nickel base defensive set but I guess there's a first time for everything. We'd sure have a decent base personnel to do it if he decided to, although we are lacking anything resembling a speed rusher at the edge.
I think its obvious to all that we simply don't have the LB's to run a base 3-4. We maybe improved inside (Mays, Lattimore) but after IK and now Mauldin injury, we are hopeless on the outside once again. Our prayers for Reilly are likely to go unanswered. IMO we need to be in a 4-2-5 with probably Pryor playing the LB/SS hybrid. This is a defense that Rex used to beat NE with Smith in the LB/SS role. This will make us susceptible to the run which IMO is fine as this will result with the opponent having less possessions (clock running) which is to our advantage.
"A bit better"?!?!?! I truly wonder what some of you people see while watching games.... I'm not saying the dude's a stud by any stretch, but he has at least contributed, while Gholston may have been the worst draft pick in NFL history (from a football playing perspective) Byz, I think a 4-3 wouldn't be as much for creating a better position for Coples (although it would) but also to keep one more slow LB off the field (barring a radical learning curve for Mauldin) welcome back
The idea I'm getting at is that if we run a 4-2-5 defense, this will encourage the other team to run the ball and they will have some success due to us having 1 less big guy in the box. Yet, it is better for us if they have run success than pass success (which they will have if we run a 3-4) since the running success will speed up the game. That is, running tends to wind down the clock more and hence there will be less possessions for each team. In my mind, this is an advantage for us since most of our opponents have a higher scoring offense than we. I think this is rational but I could be wrong--I put it out there for comment.
I like Coples proclamation about rushing the passer more this year, I hope so, because after watching you in pass coverage...
Thing with that theory is, it's assuming the D stops them at some point before field-goal range or close to it - otherwise 'time -of-possesion' will not be in our favor. 3rd and short - very few teams if any , live by the run alone - I'd just as soon as put a 4-3 and allow for Coples to play his best position. With our secondary, allow the D-line to pressure and force hurried throws.
Coples is going backwards fast, maybe he needs to drop a little weight, but he just brings nothing from that end position. I know he may be able to set the edge against the run but he looks slow and ineffective.
Coples played 15 snaps vs Miami. http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2015/10/quinton_coples_keeps_playing_less_jets_snap_counts.html It's hard not to notice Quinton Coples' reps have decreased in every game this season. His progression of playing time through four games has been as follows: 54 snaps (76 percent), 39 (61), 36 (49), and 15 (23). That's a rather sizable downward trend. Obviously, the Jets game-planned to deploy a defensive personnel strategy that relied little on its base package, and it worked. But how much of all this is a reflection on Coples? Remember, his fifth-year contract option for next year amounts to $7.8 million, but it only becomes guaranteed if the Jets decide to keep him by the start of the 2016 league year in March. That would be a lot of money to pay a guy whose playing less than a quarter of the defensive snaps. You never know, - but it certainly doesn't appear we'll pick up that 5th year option. I would have preferred a draft day trade to net something. Maybe it'll happen before the trade deadline. Carolina Panthers would be perfect. They are a surprisingly 4-0. Coples played college football at UNC. He's from there. Traded out of the AFC.
It'd be nice if we can pawn him off on someone for a decent pick as Sheldon is coming back, but I really doubt he has much trade value with his contract being up. He is what he is, a good run defender who disappears for periods of time and does not have very good pass rush moves/does not demonstrate any sort of urgency or relentlessness (is this a word?) when trying to sack the quarterback. He seems like he's taylor made to be a 3-4 weak side end. Watch him end up in Pittsburgh or Baltimore and thrive.
You have to wonder if Bowles is open to trading him. With Sheldon returning now and Reilly stepping up and Coples just being a complete misfit at LB it doesn't make sense to keep him around at that salary to set the edge on 10-20 plays per game. I still think he can be a force in the 4-3 or 3-4 at DE or DT but it might be somewhere else. The Giants would probably kill to have him at DT or DE. Well, maybe not kill, but they could use him bigtime. And a bunch of other teams I'm sure.
He was always miscast in the 3-4. No way we pick up his option and I highly doubt we can trade him. This is his last season in green and I'm pretty meh about losing him.
