Move cooper to center?

[b8rtm8nn]

It is draft and free agency season, for all we know, this could be nonsense to mask our interests in a center that we are looking at

 

[BigRedRage]

Just sign Alex Mack. He's opting out of his contract.

$$$$$$

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[Jetstream Green]

BASK are screwing the pooch on this one, this by all indications is a very good Center draft, draft one and be done, if you were thinking about it should have done last year, just seems like shortsighted thinking. I hope it works but, now we are putting our franchise QB and putting him behind an experiment.

Yeah, let's draft a rookie and start him at center... yeah, let this guy call the pass protections on the professional level, and hold up as an anchor for a 16 game and more season, that is brilliant

 

[Cheesebeef]

This doesn't speak very well of this kid... As usual.

 

[TJ]

This doesn't speak very well of this kid... As usual.

Disagree. Center is a more demanding position in terms of responsibility on the line than RG. If anything, it speaks well of the kid, but I don't look at it that way. I see the team trying to find a cost-effective way of filling the void at center, seeing as so much money is already tied up in the line; all while insuring their top pick of 2013 gets on the field. Does this pave the way for Watford at RG?

 

[pinetopred]

Yeah, let's draft a rookie and start him at center... yeah, let this guy call the pass protections on the professional level, and hold up as an anchor for a 16 game and more season, that is brilliant

Man I guessed I missed your solution let's start a guy who has never played the position., or let's pay 12 mil a year for a proven one, or maybe finally let's just draft one. I guess I would rather draft one but oh well you want to think you know more about football than me good for you

 

[Reddog]

Never played center even in high school. It's very hard to learn that position as a pro. I don't believe this makes sense.

Not true according to this; http://blog.azcardinals.com/2016/03/02/on-jeffersons-tender-and-coopers-position/

"I even asked Cooper in training camp last year if he could play center. He acknowledged he had done it a little in college"

 

[Cheesebeef]

Disagree. Center is a more demanding position in terms of responsibility on the line than RG. If anything, it speaks well of the kid, but I don't look at it that way. I see the team trying to find a cost-effective way of filling the void at center, seeing as so much money is already tied up in the line; all while insuring their top pick of 2013 gets on the field. Does this pave the way for Watford at RG?

I think that's a very positive way of looking at it. I look at it as the kid has bombed out at his drafted position and they're grasping at straws to figure out if there's any way they can get SOMETHING out of him. He was a Top 10 pick... who apparently can't play his stated position. That doesn't speak highly of the kid at all to me.

I actually think we're saying the same thing, but have two different outcomes for overall thought. Having to change the kid's position to get him on the field says he sucks at his given position, IMO.

 

[Stout]

If the reports were true about the coaches having to re-program Cooper each week because he was overthinking the playbook and having trouble adjusting to the new week's game plan---a move to center would be absurd. There is more to think about for an NFL center than any position on the offense, save the QB. Plus, we are talking about BA's intricate offense. What this probably signals---they are going to sign a FA guard and they are trying to deflect the attention off of Cooper now before it happens, saying that he is in the discussion at center.

I'm with you here, Mitch. From one side of their collective mouth, BASK justifies keeping him on the bench because of mental problems with the offense; to then move him to the position that QBs the offensive line seems hypocritical to me. Were they lying last year, or are they overly optimistic now? Very, very weird.

Never played center even in high school. It's very hard to learn that position as a pro. I don't believe this makes sense.

Yep.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

Sigh.

 

[Jetstream Green]

Man I guessed I missed your solution let's start a guy who has never played the position., or let's pay 12 mil a year for a proven one, or maybe finally let's just draft one. I guess I would rather draft one but oh well you want to think you know more about football than me good for you

I think there is a solution and it probably will not be Cooper and he is just a possible alternative. It seems most centers when they enter the NFL sometimes play guard for a while so they can adjust and learn about blitzing in the NFL before they play center. Your point seemed to suggest we start the season with a rookie at the position and not just draft one... and actually paying 12 million for a guy like Mack would not be stupid in my opinion, he is that good and would do wonders

 

[Veer]

I'm not against it. He should get every chance to play and proove his worth. However, if he fails at center too, he is done with us. This is his make or break year, no doubt. Maybe they want a more experienced player next to Humphries, who knows.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Antrel Rolle part II ?

 

[cardpa]

How about moving Cooper over to the defensive side of the line? Would he make a good DT?

 

[az jam]

Some very good centers in the draft that could anchor our OL for the next ten years. Hope they keep Cooper at RG.

 

[Reddog]

NFL Network reporting the move as fact. They probably read the AZCards site and made a leap. I don't think anything definitive has been announced just some speculation that he might be looked at there. Could Cards be laying down Cooper as a smoke screen to protect their draft interest in a center?

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...na-cardinals-moving-jonathan-cooper-to-center

 

[don7031]

There could be a method to this madness. At center Cooper will have to learn the big picture. It will force him to see how all the pieces go together rather than just being concerned with himself. They are doing something to try to get the lights to turn on for the guy.

 

[BigRedRage]

How about moving Cooper over to the defensive side of the line? Would he make a good DT?

no, hes soft. OL is his only chance.

 

[kerouac9]

Look, if you can make the former 6th overall pick in the draft a 2nd or 3rd string center and guard — it's just something you have to do.

I doubt there's going to be any debate this offseason about whether the Cards should pick up Cooper's 5th year option.

 

[GuernseyCard]

URBAN:

Then there was the chatter about the Cardinals considering the use of Jonathan Cooper at center. It isn’t that Cooper is definitely moving, and certainly at this point before free agency and the draft, a lot will have to do with who is brought in during those periods. But it could be an option. It isn’t a shocking thought; Cooper was the one taking third-string snaps through much of the 2014 season during warmup periods. I even asked Cooper in training camp last year if he could play center. He acknowledged he had done it a little in college, but also said the Cardinals had never really broached the subject with him. Certainly it would give the Cardinals flexibility in configuring the offensive line going forward.

 

[Chopper0080]

Look, if you can make the former 6th overall pick in the draft a 2nd or 3rd string center and guard — it's just something you have to do.

I doubt there's going to be any debate this offseason about whether the Cards should pick up Cooper's 5th year option.

Ha. It's never a ringing endorsement for a top 10 pick when the team is looking to move him around to try and find a spot he is adequate at.

 

[AZCrazy]

How can the team have never broached the subject with him? This should be the kind of thing that gets discussed routinely in the clubhouse. That smacks of the bad old days of a very amateurish operation.

To Cooper's defense, he's had several injuries and the team didn't want to mess with a big winning streak last year. He would now be asked to learn his third different position in four years. He's got the brain for center (perhaps too much. It was stated that often his indecision was paralysis by analysis - too much thinking). Many of us were talking about him at center as he was being drafted. RG is the easiest position on the offense to fill outside of maybe fullback.

 

[pinetopred]

I think there is a solution and it probably will not be Cooper and he is just a possible alternative. It seems most centers when they enter the NFL sometimes play guard for a while so they can adjust and learn about blitzing in the NFL before they play center. Your point seemed to suggest we start the season with a rookie at the position and not just draft one... and actually paying 12 million for a guy like Mack would not be stupid in my opinion, he is that good and would do wonders

In a perfect world with no salary cap sure I'd love to bring in Mack, just can't see us tying up that much money into our oline. So in my opinion you draft one(which I think would also be first we will have drafted since we moved to AZ) and yes there will be a learning curve so you have to have a journeyman type player that can handle things and can help bring him along. The whole thing with Cooper is this could have been done a couple years ago and I would have been fine with it, now it just feels like we are training him to be somebody else's Center, if it works out for us great. I lover the job BASK have done just think they blew this one from day one

 

[Reddog]

How can the team have never broached the subject with him? This should be the kind of thing that gets discussed routinely in the clubhouse. That smacks of the bad old days of a very amateurish operation.

Obviously they broached the subject if as reported he was taking snaps in practice last year.

 

[vince56]

I still feel like I missed something this year. Cooper was moving bodies forcefully out of the way for CJ and was very good in space running counter, trap, and power. I did not understand why Larsen replaced him, and still do not. I figured it was something to do with pass protection, focus, or not listening to coaches, but it looked to my eyes like he was playing well early in the year.

What happened? Did my eyes deceive me or is there more to this story?