K. Cooper

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mnsports1

mnsports1

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Anyone else think before the year that #4 would have been a little more of an impact player than he has been?
 

Yes, I even saw on Spann's 4th quarter TD last week that it was Cooper's gap to fill that he ran through. Cooper got sucked in too far in the middle and it was daylight from there. Not sure what's going on with Cooper - but at the same time, it doesn't seem that any of our highly recruited players are progressing like they should. To me, it comes down to this coaching staff not coaching them up - and not on skill of the kids.
 

Marooned said:
Yes, I even saw on Spann's 4th quarter TD last week that it was Cooper's gap to fill that he ran through. Cooper got sucked in too far in the middle and it was daylight from there. Not sure what's going on with Cooper - but at the same time, it doesn't seem that any of our highly recruited players are progressing like they should. To me, it comes down to this coaching staff not coaching them up - and not on skill of the kids.
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Troll...hater...pantherhawk...non-fan....flamer.....tool....
 


Cooper has the talent to make a huge impact. It appears like with others to be more a matter of mental mistakes and/or not being clear on assignments or technique.
 


Uh, folks. Cooper is leading the team in tackles and is tied for 5th in the Big Ten in Solo tackles. Considering that he was only on the field for 15 minutes in week one, I would say that is pretty damn good.

What exactly were you expecting from a RS sophomore?
 

Never being out of position, never missing a tackle and 3 defensive TD's by now. That might not even be good enough for some of them.
 


I think many, like me, saw how well he played last year and had too high of expectations for him. He is having a solid year.
 



maybe this is a scheme issue, but I was expecting him from time to time to get to the QB from off the edge with all that speed. He is a favorite of mine, but I'm hoping he "stands out" more in Big 10 play.

also... talking about our D stats is a bit like talking about TS KR yardage. It's not like we are getting off the field quickly and forcing many 3 and outs. There are A LOT of opportunities to make tackles on this D. I would prefer more of them to be at or behind the LOS.
 

Silvio said:
Never being out of position, never missing a tackle and 3 defensive TD's by now. That might not even be good enough for some of them.
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LOL. :clap:

Seriously though, I'm one who had very high expectations for #4. My guess is that he'll continue to develop and will be a heck of a player by the end of this season.
 

There is a reason you don't see many junior outside linebackers going pro...it is one of the most difficult positions on the field...next to strong safety to learn...both mentally and technique wise...IMO

Especially in a 4-3 where you are mostly playing in space and not rushing the QB.

My fear is we have another switch at DC and another scheme and all our talent loses more time learning a new system...please no switch to the 3-4 for goodness sakes.
 

USC

Marooned said:
Yes, I even saw on Spann's 4th quarter TD last week that it was Cooper's gap to fill that he ran through. Cooper got sucked in too far in the middle and it was daylight from there. Not sure what's going on with Cooper - but at the same time, it doesn't seem that any of our highly recruited players are progressing like they should. To me, it comes down to this coaching staff not coaching them up - and not on skill of the kids.
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Check the USC game tape, you'll find him doing the same thing everytime the ball was run to his side. NIU must have looked at some game film. Don't know if its the fact that he's only a Sophmore or lack of coaching?
 



I think he's playing quite well actually, I see him around the ball all the time. 5th in the BT in tackles is nothing to sneeze at, especially considering the air show we witnessed from USD, and the 15 minutes of defensive play against MTSU. Is he making game saving stops or blocked punts? No, but he's playing quite solid.

But yes, a weakness of his (from what I've seen) is he will get sucked into the line too frequently and it opens up a huge cutback lane for the RB. That definitely happened a couple times to him on last Saturday.
 

Tackles

How many of his tackles have taken place between where he lines up and the line of scrimmage? I bet 25% at most. His tackle total is a reflection on his ball pursuit skills which are fantastic. We need him to attack the ball before it gets past him though.
 

tjgesquire said:
How many of his tackles have taken place between where he lines up and the line of scrimmage? I bet 25% at most. His tackle total is a reflection on his ball pursuit skills which are fantastic. We need him to attack the ball before it gets past him though.
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This over aggressive approach may be how he gets sucked out of position on several of the running plays you quoted earlier. It probably takes only a couple of steps in the wrong direction to be out of position and end up making a ball pursuit tackle.
 

Tinsley and Cooper have the athleticism to be solid Big Ten linebackers. They do not have the mental part yet. They are blowing assignments and missing tackles. I am not sure Rallis has the mental or physical part yet.
 

Cooper, Tinsley & Rallis have all been horrible. Time and time again, they've fallen for misdirection, screens, etc. had to hustle to get back into the play and missed weak arm tackles. It's natural for people to want our top recruits to be heroes but at this point it's precisely them who've been so disappointing. Cooper, Tinsley, Rallis, Carter, Manuel, Garin, Wilhite, C. Lewis...all brutal. The good news is they ARE talented and should get better as the season progresses. The National publications were dead right. Starting 9-11 new starters on D is going to make for some long days on the gridiron. We all want a rainbow...but we're gonna have to endure some rain first.
 

lol i remember i got blasted for saying Rallis wasn't as good as Campbell, Lawrence, and Triplett. Hmmmmmm.....
 

SPCPrice21 said:
lol i remember i got blasted for saying Rallis wasn't as good as Campbell, Lawrence, and Triplett. Hmmmmmm.....
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It's a tad bit early to be comparing careers don't you think. Those three turned out to be pretty good but none of them showed much until they were juniors. Give these guys that much of a chance.

Football is a team sport. If you can't count on the guy next to you doing his job, then your focus becomes divided and you feel you need to back up that guy. you end up not doing your job, and biting on fakes when you should be minding the store and covering your gap. Not to say that Coopers mistakes don't belong to him, just that the whole team is probably doing the same thing, which makes everyone worse. That is not coaching it's experience. The coaching part is that we shouldn't have to rely on such inexperience like we do.
 

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