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The Offensive Line

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PFF saying Cooper graded as THE top guard in the NFL this past week.

Cam has now been upgraded from disastrous to poor As he still has too many inconsistencies.
 
I am trying to be guarded with Cooper. It's not even like it's a flash, everyone knows this young man is a VERY good guard and he's never not been good. The problem has never been his play, but his health. He's never consistently stayed healthy across his four years in the league, even when not consistently playing.

I really hope it's all behind him. We're fucking due this luck, surely? Surely, of all the issues we've had, it's finally time for luck to go our way and this kid just never misses a damn snap again.
 
Wasn't there a work ethic question as well?

I too am guarding against buying in. Just to soon to say he's pivoted on to a new path.

But color me intrigued, and that's one helluva block.
 
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When I first saw the work ethic concerns, it stunk of a young man who was really beat down by all his injury issues. He didn't have any of these concerns in college. Actually, on the play he broke his leg, Cooper was blocking nine yards downfield. When he did get injured, the team praised his work ethic when various coaches cited it as a reason they felt he could come back better than ever. It wasn't until after that when things faltered.

Prior to Cooper starting for us, his presser was very interesting. While he wouldn't say he's different or took anything for granted or didn't work hard, he did speak about being humbled, knowing how important his limited opportunities are and appreciating where he was from what was once a long road back just to be placed in a situation of uncertainty.

He closed saying,

“I try not to dwell on the past, but really, it has just been a few injuries that have held me back and that has been what has hurt me at times are injuries. Now, I am looking forward, feeling good, healthy and aiming to kind of rewrite the story or let it play out how I end up, let it go."
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Obviously I have a bias because I already had a feeling it was more injury related disenchantment than simply being a lazy guy, but that reads to me like a young man who has accepted what was and embraced what is.

Even going back to when he joined the Patriots, there were real hints that his injury history was weighing on his mind.

“It’s just one of those things, you’ve worked hard and things just haven’t seemed to fall your way. Honestly, it’s more of a mental thing than anything else. I feel like the biggest thing is the actual fresh start with a new organization and being able, from this day forward, to rewrite my history and be a better player than I was before,” he said.

Along those lines, Cooper relayed that he had been “turning over every stone and trying some different things” in hopes of turning things around before the trade to the Patriots.
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He even mentioned cutting his long hair off as part of his efforts at making changes. That screams of a guy who just wanted things to be different.

The time off likely did him the world of good, and the strong start is wonderful for him.

Watching his pressers was a joy. He genuinely seems like a really, really nice guy. He spoke the world about our team, stating this is one of the hardest working groups he's been around. I've got my fingers crossed for him.
 
So it may have been the old Herm Edwards, as to why teams let him go. "The best ability is availability" type of thing.

If he works out, that'd be 4 first rounders out of 5 on our O line for next year (if you give Bitonio a couple of bonus slots for playing like a first rounder even though he was at the top of the 2nd), and we have Drango, Greco, and the upcoming draft.

Big test tomorrow. Bills are legit up front on D.
 
Jonathan Cooper would be over the top awesome if he pans out for us. Then Greco can go to center, if needed, or be a helluva backup interior lineman and our draft won't be as pressured to add another lineman since Pasztor is growing into the RT position.

I'd still like Pasztor to be the 6th swing man, but if he can play RT at a high level so be it.
 
I was reading a very interesting piece on CB.com about Shon Coleman, with fans submitting questions and one asking if Coleman and Drango were considered the future.

I believe the writer was Andrew Gribble, and he'd pointed out that Coleman had missed almost all of training camp due to a pre-existing injury suffered at the end of his college career, which he had played through, and it had hurt his transition from their scheme to ours, which is completely different.

Not being the most avid college watcher, I went back and had a look at some Auburn highlights and cut ups, and I must say I'd forgotten just how different Auburn's offense was.

I think sometimes I underestimate blockers, taking it as a far more physical than intellectual process, but I can see why this is such a big transition for Coleman, particularly given the time he missed with his lingering injury earlier in the season.

I was a little disheartened with him. Pasztor is playing well, no doubt, but I had originally expected Coleman to stamp his mark on the position pretty early.

This really is a huge step for Coleman and moreso when combined with his initial healing, so development time is perfectly natural. I'm still optimistic about his future.
 
Cooper will not be a lot of money to resign. He is still viewed as high risk. Even if he plays lights out the next few weeks. This guy has been 86'ed off 2 quality teams that needed him. I hope he does well and re-signs but let's be real, no one is signing this guy day one of free agency.
 
ChowMeinChad said:
Cooper will not be a lot of money to resign. He is still viewed as high risk. Even if he plays lights out the next few weeks. This guy has been 86'ed off 2 quality teams that needed him. I hope he does well and re-signs but let's be real, no one is signing this guy day one of free agency.
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Agreed. I can see him signing a very sweet short term deal. If he proves his availability, it becomes a very sweet long term deal.
 
Even an incentive based 2-year, $8M deal would be wonderful. Similar to John Greco, who gets paid less if he's not starting. It sounds like a lot, but I'm all in on locking down talent. We've got the cap room, and we're on rookie contracts at the highest paid position (Minus only JT and Haden).
 
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