Seahawks Draft Thoughts: Why I don't like Quintin Coples

Alright, I'll bite, I'll go into detail why I don't think the Seahawks should, or will draft Quintin Coples in the first round. I guess I understand why so many fans want Coples, he's big, he's athletic and he dominated at the Senior Bowl. All of these things mean absolutely nothing. I watched three cut ups from UNC games against NC State, Miami, and Missouri and, naturally I noticed some things.

He wants to get to the quarterback, this, is of upmost importance to him. Gap control be damned, if he reads pass, or he's decided he wants to get to the quarterback, he will run himself clear out of a play to try and get to the quarterback. When he really wants to, he can be a smart player. Missouri ran a speed option his way multiple times and he reacted well most of the time. He, like the rest of that UNC defense, plays selfish. They have the swagger of a much better defense than they actually.

 He really does have a great first step, granted, looking at the tackles he went up against, only Miami's LT looked like an NFL tackle and he moved like his feet were chained together.  I think the fact that he has such a great first step has led to a lack of development in pass rush moves. He can beat most ACC tackles around the edge, so that is all he resorts to. He has limited inside moves and virtually no bull rush from what I saw. He's ridiculously quick, and could develop a good rush move arsenal if he actually wanted to.

There was a major difference between his effort on running plays vs passing plays and whether the game was close or not.  In the NFL, he can't take plays off. 

Another thing I noticed, he doesn't like to get in piles. If he is pursuing a running back he will let up if it looks like a collision will happen. Seems like a guy who doesn't want to get hurt and damage his draft stock. I saw this multiple times in every game I looked at.  He plays soft, Missouri's TE trapped him on a running play and drove him five yards out of his gap. Not acceptable. 

If this guy had the effort to match the talent, he would be a top 10 pick. People compare him to Von Miller, skill set wise, they are similar as far as raw, speed driven pass rushers. But Von Miller kills himself out there. Coples doesn't. I get the infatuation, he has amazing talent. But that doesn't make a great player in the NFL.