Move cooper to center?

[oaken1]

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?

he was playing very well.

a saw a quote from BA stating, " after being out for a month with injury it is almost impossible for a guy to work his way back into the starting lineup in this offense".....the statement was directly in regards to coop....apparently had there been an injury coop could have stepped back in to his job

 

[Jetstream Green]

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?

I felt the same way... guess we know nothing lol

 

[ARZCardinals]

Cooper has been a fat slob of nothing (seeing he was the #7 pick). Sad to see a guy who has a ton of talent too much in his head to get it right. He'll be up and out of the NFL in 2 years. BUST to BUSTED!
I was excited when we got him and through camp he played like a champ. But just like so many youngsters that have never been hurt. They get hurt and can never climb past the mental hurdle that they are vulnerable.
Coop will not live up to a top ten pick. At this point he was a round 7 pick at best.
If he thinks another team is going to give him a shot...even at the league min...he's in for a shock.

 

[Buckybird]

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?

It seems many times once a player gets in the doghouse of a coach it's hard to get out & this is twice now.

Personally I think this is a bad sign for Coop going forward. Unless the intention is to ignore a great C in Mack, & put Coop at center & Watford at OG. I think Watford is highly under appreciated as well & a mistake if we let him get away after this season.

 

[Buckybird]

Cooper has been a fat slob of nothing (seeing he was the #7 pick). Sad to see a guy who has a ton of talent too much in his head to get it right. He'll be up and out of the NFL in 2 years. BUST to BUSTED!
I was excited when we got him and through camp he played like a champ. But just like so many youngsters that have never been hurt. They get hurt and can never climb past the mental hurdle that they are vulnerable.
Coop will not live up to a top ten pick. At this point he was a round 7 pick at best.
If he thinks another team is going to give him a shot...even at the league min...he's in for a shock.

Lesson learned...never draft an OG in the top 10 IMO!!! Remember how everybody here slobbered all over Womack before we drafted Coop? Then the same was said about him Hmmmm

 

[vince56]

It seems many times once a player gets in the doghouse of a coach it's hard to get out & this is twice now.

Personally I think this is a bad sign for Coop going forward. Unless the intention is to ignore a great C in Mack, & put Coop at center & Watford at OG. I think Watford is highly under appreciated as well & a mistake if we let him get away after this season.

Agreed. Watford was excellent at RT this year and I was shocked they benched him for Massie.

 

[Snakester]

All this nonsense about Cooper is a little much. The guy was playing good last year before he got hurt. Larson was never better than Cooper and should have never taken his place. Cooper will be a starter next season whether it is at guard or center.

 

[Ed Burmila]

All this nonsense about Cooper is a little much. The guy was playing good last year before he got hurt. Larson was never better than Cooper and should have never taken his place. Cooper will be a starter next season whether it is at guard or center.

This.

Arians has something against playing younger guys on the OL (Humphries wasn't even ACTIVE let alone on the field). Free agency is going to require him to get over that. Massie is gone, Larsen and Lyle Sendlein both need to be upgraded, and honestly I have no idea where all these bad plays from Cooper are that Arians claims to see - 'mental lapses' or whatever.

All I know is that every single game, Larsen has 4-5 plays where he gets picked up and shoved 10 yards into the backfield like a beanbag. If Cooper makes mental errors, he makes up for it by not getting thrown around like a tackling dummy like Larsen regularly does.

 

[Ohcrap75]

If Cooper can make a successful transition to OC, I would love to add a OG like Brandon Brooks or Alex Boone and watch DJ challenge for the rushing title.

 

[Jim Otis]

I just can't see how Coop could transition to Center , when so far he has not transitioned to Guard . I always look at it from a smartest guys on your team prospective .
To me it goes like this .
#1 smartest guy ----- Starting QB

#2 A --- the defender (usually a Captain) that sets the defense

#2 B --- the Center who makes the line calls

#3 ------ backup QB

Please forgive me for not seeing Cooper in that mix .

 

[Ohcrap75]

I just can't see how Coop could transition to Center , when so far he has not transitioned to Guard . I always look at it from a smartest guys on your team prospective .
To me it goes like this .
#1 smartest guy ----- Starting QB

#2 A --- the defender (usually a Captain) that sets the defense

#2 B --- the Center who makes the line calls

#3 ------ backup QB

Please forgive me for not seeing Cooper in that mix .

Reddog stated earlier in this thread that Cooper scored a 34 on the Wonderlic. If that's correct then he actually is one of the smartest guys on the team. I know the Wonderlic is not the SAT, but it's a lot more than luck to get a score that high.

 

[Harry]

Well Reddog you got me. I pulled all my pre-draft stuff and asked some colleagues and no one had him at center. He did play DE in high school as well as guard. I sent off some emails and got back this info from a UNC blogger. The best quote is below. As a redshirt sophomore an injury force the Heels to start him at center. They thought his athleticism made him the best choice. As best the blogger could recall it only happened one time and then didn't last the whole game. Below is their note from the game! So I guess it depends what you mean by "played" center. As far as I can tell no reputable draft guru ever even rated him as a center prospect.

"Jonathan Cooper: I hate to call out individual linemen, and I have a soft spot for centers because I was one, but it is hard to imagine a center having a worse individual night than he did. Three huge botched snaps that led directly to 9 LSU points and getting beaten so badly up front that he was replaced by backup Cam Holland at one point."

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Well Reddog you got me. I pulled all my pre-draft stuff and asked some colleagues and no one had him at center. He did play DE in high school as well as guard. I sent off some emails and got back this info from a UNC blogger. The best quote is below. As a redshirt sophomore an injury force the Heels to start him at center. They thought his athleticism made him the best choice. As best the blogger could recall it only happened one time and then didn't last the whole game. Below is their note from the game! So I guess it depends what you mean by "played" center. As far as I can tell no reputable draft guru ever even rated him as a center prospect.

"Jonathan Cooper: I hate to call out individual linemen, and I have a soft spot for centers because I was one, but it is hard to imagine a center having a worse individual night than he did. Three huge botched snaps that led directly to 9 LSU points and getting beaten so badly up front that he was replaced by backup Cam Holland at one point."

That's all I need to know about this experiment.

Sign Alex Mack to big cash. Don't worry about the position again for a few years.

 

[ARZCardinals]

Ugh! that quote it telling

I don't see Coop on this team after this year.
They'll keep him as a back up for this season,but this is the end of the NFL for him. He lost his mojo on that injury.