Quinton Coples | The Penalty Flag

Tag Archives: Quinton Coples

2012 NFL Draft: Will the Bears go guts or glory at 19?

April 22, 2012 Chicago Bears, NFC, NFC North, NFL

The Chicago Bears have the 19th pick in the 2012 NFL draft and with selection day less than a week away what position they will fill is still up in the air. When you look at the Bears needs going into the draft they should definitely go guts and take a defensive end or an offensive tackle at 19 but might t go glory and take a receiver? Arguments can be made for either scenario.

Throw the Flag & Read More

2012 NFL draft: Could Quinton Coples fall into the Eagles’ lap?

April 21, 2012 NFC, NFC East, NFL, Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles and Andy Reid love to draft defense and while the line may not need to be addressed he loves to have talent and won’t be able to pass.

North Carolina defensive end Quinton Coples may have benefited from defensive tackle Marvin Austin being suspended for the entire 2011 season, but it gave him the shot he needed to propel himself into the NFL.

Couples’ natural position is defensive end which he most likely will be moved back to when selected, but it does give a team the option of moving him around the line to confuse the offensive line.

Throw the Flag & Read More

2012 NFL draft: Possible selections for the Jacksonville Jaguars

March 4, 2012 AFC, AFC South, Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL

The Jacksonville Jaguars were unable to improve on an 8-8 record and in Week 3 of the 2011 NFL season Luke McCown would be replaced with the 10th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, Blaine Gabbert.

Throw the Flag & Read More

2012 NFL draft: Possible selections for the Buffalo Bills

February 20, 2012 AFC, AFC East, Buffalo Bills, NFL

The 2011 Buffalo Bills improved upon their 4-12 record from 2012 but missed the playoffs for the twelfth consecutive season.

The Bills have not made the playoffs since 1999 and now own the longest standing playoff drought in the NFL.

While unable to break the playoff drought they were able to beat the eventual AFC East and AFC Champion New England Patriots for the first time in 15 games.

The 2011 Bills became the only team to win two consecutive games in which they trailed by 18 or more points. They overcame a 21-3 deficit to the Oakland Raiders in Week 2 and 21-0 against New England in Week 3.

The team started off hot with a 5-2 record and relied on Ryan Fitzpatrick and Fred Jackson who was leading all rushing categories early on before suffering a season-ending injury.

They would go on to lose eight of their final nine games eliminating them from the playoffs.

Quinton Coples

One bright mark for the Bills was wide receiver Stevie Johnson who became the only Bills receiver in history to record two consecutive 1,000 yard seasons.

The Penalty Flag’s Mike Presley believes the Bills will select the following players in the first and second rounds;

Round 1, Pick 10: Quinton Coples DE, UNC: The Bills are moving to the 4-3 and they need pass rushers. Coples could experience a draft night fall in April but some team will take him in the Top 10 and that will be the Bills. With Marcel Dareus and Kyle Williams manning the middle, they will need edge rushers and Coples can be good as long as he puts fourth the effort, which was a big issue.

2012 NFL Draft: Quinton Coples DE North Carolina (college-sports-university.com)

Round 2, Pick 41: Zach Brown OLB, UNC: The Bills need as many 4-3 players as possible to help make their transition smooth. They continue to improve their front seven, and Brown is a steal here at 41 and the Bills defense continues to get better.

2012 NFL Draft: Zach Brown OLB North Carolina(college-sports-university.com)
Zach Brown

He also has the following players going to the other members of the AFC East

Todd McShay of ESPN.com

#10 OT Riley Reiff – Iowa
McShay’s take: The Bills have had a pressing need at left tackle for years, and haven’t drafted one since they missed on Mike Williams at No. 4 overall in 2002. Reiff isn’t a finished product but has good natural feet for his size, and he projects as a very good starting left tackle if developed properly. And despite the money Buffalo recently committed to Ryan Fitzpatrick, I think a quarterback would have to be in play here, as well. But the Bills wouldn’t be likely to take Oklahoma’s Landry Jones at this point

Peter Schrager, FOX Sports

#10 DT Devon Still – Penn State
Schrager’s take: The Bills got very little out of their defensive line this year. Even when the Bills were winning, the team had only four sacks in its first six games of the season. Marcell Dareus was a fine start to the rebuilding of the Buffalo defense, but it’s not enough. Still — one of the only bright spots in what was an awful year for Penn State football — was a terror at defensive tackle. Buffalo gets a healthy Kyle Williams back next year, too. A 6-foot-5, 310-pound stuffer, Still isn’t a flashy pick, but he makes a whole lot of sense.

Sign up for TPF’s Daily Newsletter and enter to win a TPF T-Shirt

Click Here to Subscribe

Buffalo Bills Player Profile: Ryan Fitzpatrick (thepenaltyflagblog.com)
Bills plan on extending Fred Jackson’s contract (thepenaltyflagblog.com)
Buffalo Bills: Greatest Comeback Ever (thepenaltyflagblog.com)
NFL Rewind: Doug Flutie Sparks ‘Flutie-Mania’ in Buffalo (thepenaltyflagblog.com)
STB’s Hottie of the Week: Brooklyn Winn (shatterthebackboard.com)

Photo on 2010 09 11 at 10.14 150x150 2012 NFL draft: Possible selections for the Buffalo Bills

Brooklyn Winn

2012 NFL draft: Possible selections for the Buffalo Bills

Throw the Flag & Read More

2012 Mock Draft: AFC East edition

February 9, 2012 AFC East, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Jets, NFL

The 2011 NFL Season is officially over, and the 2012 NFL Season is under way. With Free Agency and the Draft coming up in the next couple months, it is going to be a very busy time for all teams as they look to keep their free agents, or sign away another player from another team. Now let’s skip Free Agency and head right into the Draft. The scouting combine is just weeks away and players will be doing their best to raise their stock and show teams they are worthy of being selected in the Draft.

So with that said, I’m going to do a Mock Draft for every team, by division. Once I get through all the divisions, I will reveal my first 32 team first round mock. For now, take a look at who I have the teams in the AFC East taking, and plenty will change between this and the 32 team mock. Stay tuned for the NFC East mock draft next week.

Miami Dolphins:

Round 1, Pick 8*: Michael Brockers DT LSU: The Dolphins are surprisingly moving to a 4-3 defense and will need players to fit that scheme. Jared Odrick can play one of the Defensive Tackle positions but they need someone else to play the other. Brockers is climbing up draft boards and may be a top 15 pick come April, so reaching for a great player here at 8 won’t be much for the Dolphins.

Round 2, Pick 42: Zebrie Sanders OT FSU: Marc Colombo can and should be upgraded, whether in Free Agency or in the draft. You know how bad he is, he gave up three of the nine sacks that the Eagles had in their game last season. Sanders, or well anyone can be an upgrade over Colombo and they should be focused on protecting Matt Flynn or whoever the Quarterback will be.

* = Pick Based on Coin Flip with Carolina Panthers

Buffalo Bills:

New York Jets:

Round 1, Pick 16: Courtney Upshaw, OLB, Alabama: The Jets pass rush needs to be upgraded. If the Jets want to ever stop playing second fiddle to the Patriots, then maybe getting to Tom Brady will help. Upshaw had an absolute wonderful season and was named MVP of the National Title game and will provide Rex Ryan his New York version of Terrell Suggs.

Round 2, Pick 47: Nick Toon WR Wisconsin: The Jets are imploding right now, if it wasn’t for Santonio Holmes’ contract, they would probably dump him so why not draft another receiver in the meantime.

New England Patriots:

Round 1, Pick 27(via NO): Vinny Curry DE/OLB Marshall: Patriots defense was horrible last season, at least until they got some players back who were injured. The way the defense played when they got healthy shows what kind of defense they truly have. The Patriots improve their pass rush with Curry and add more youth to their defense.

Round 1, Pick 31: Lamar Miller RB Miami: Make no mistake about it, one of these first round picks will be traded. Right now I don’t project trades even though my 32 team Mock will feature trades. Miller is too good to pass up here at 31, and gives them another weapon on offense to work with.

Round 2, Pick 48: Harrison Smith SS Notre Dame: Patriots once again go defense. Things didn’t work out with Meriweather so they will need another safety. When Mike Mayock praises a player, it’s always a bonus. Smith has nice size(6’2) and has played great for Notre Dame the past two seasons which warrants him as a second round pick.

Round 2, Pick 63: Jared Crick DE Nebraska: 4 picks within the first two rounds, did the Patriots win a lottery or what. They should be able to improve their team with the early picks they got and again they go defense as Crick adds more talent to what was a weak defense for the most of 2011.

Sign up for TPF’s Daily Newsletter and enter to win a TPF T-Shirt

Mike Presley is a NFL Featured Journalist for The Penalty Flag. He is a graduate of the Carolina School of Broadcasting and hosts a weekly NFL show on the schools radio station 89.3 The Storm entitled “The Front Seven.” Mike also writes for the racing website www.hardcoreracefans.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikepresley64.

Throw the Flag & Read More

2012 NFL Mock Draft: Top 10 Picks

January 14, 2012 AFC, NFC, NFL

The 2012 NFL Draft Order is set, the only thing left is to order the remaining playoff teams and Draft season will be in full swing. The Indianapolis Colts won the Andrew Luck sweepstakes and hold the number one pick. It is guaranteed that they will be taking Andrew Luck to be Peyton Manning’s successor in Indianapolis. Jeff Fisher will have a tall task in St. Louis as he looks to be the next coach to take on the task of rebuilding the Rams, while Leslie Frazier’s first year in Minnesota didn’t quite go well. Mike Holmgren has the Cleveland Browns once again picking in the top ten but thanks to the trade with Atlanta, he will have an extra pick to help the Browns try to compete in the competitive AFC North. Meanwhile in Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers are going from a ‘youngry’ Raheem Morris to a coach who has yet to be named and will look to turn Tampa back into the team who won ten games in 2010. From there, the Jaguars, Redskins, Panthers, Dolphins and Bills round out your Top Ten draft order heading into the off-season.

Plenty of teams inside the top ten who need a QB, and with Matt Barkley and Landry Jones returning that will throw a wrench into the plans for those teams. Will that cause teams to trade ahead of Cleveland, who would most certainly take Robert Griffin in order to take Griffin before he falls to Cleveland. Some are going to have new coaches while others will have new General Managers. So I present to you, a Mock Draft covering the Top ten teams and project who they could draft in April.

1. Indianapolis Colts- Andrew Luck QB Stanford: This is a no brainer right here, Luck is going to be the future of Indianapolis. The only question that remains is what happens to Peyton Manning, will he be traded or will he stay and tutor Luck for a year or two before giving way to the Andrew Luck Era.

2. St. Louis Rams- Matt Kalil OT USC: Jeff Fisher’s very first task as the Head Coach of the Rams should be ensuring Sam Bradford doesn’t catch the David Carr syndrome. They have tried to fix the offensive line but with no prevail, Matt Kalil is a Franchise Left Tackle who can come in and protect Bradford for the next decade or so.

3. Minnesota Vikings- Justin Blackmon WR Ok. State: In 1998 the Vikings said hello to Randy Moss who was drafted 22nd overall and became a star player right away. In 2012, the Vikings say hello to their new Randy Moss, Justin Blackmon. Christian Ponder needs a legit number one receiver and with Blackmon on board joining Adrian Peterson, the Vikings offense should be much better next year.

4. Cleveland Browns- Robert Griffin III QB Baylor: Colt McCoy right now is doing nothing to show he can be a franchise quarterback. He was drafted in the third round so the Browns don’t have much invested in him and with a rookie wage scale, they can afford to draft Griffin. Now the question will be, will Griffin finally stop the quarterback carousel in Cleveland and finally provide them a franchise quarterback.

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Morris Claiborne CB LSU: Cornerback is the big issue for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers heading into the off-season. Ronde Barber will turn 37 before the Draft and is a Free Agent. Aquib Talib is one more offense away from being suspended from the league and has a court date in March, a month before the Draft. Claiborne is not only the best player available but he also fills a need. Tampa’s young defense gets better with the addition of Claiborne.

6. Washington Redskins- Alshon Jeffery WR South Carolina: To whomever will be the Redskins QB in 2012, I give you a present in the form of Alshon Jeffery. Now of course I do expect Washington to try to trade up for Robert Griffin but I don’t do trades this early. So assuming they stay at six, they get a weapon for either Grossman or Beck and whoever the franchise quarterback ends up being.

7. Jacksonville Jaguars: Quinton Coples DE UNC: Jacksonville loves drafting defensive lineman early and unfortunately they have drafted busts which leads to the more permanent fix in Coples. Coples has the perfect size, speed and athleticism to be a force for the Jaguars on defense. Coples ended the season with 7.5 sacks and in a division where you face Matt Schaub and Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck twice a year, you have to get to the Quarterback and Coples certainly will do that.

8. Miami Dolphins: Trent Richardson RB Alabama: This could be the first shocker here, but Richardson is the best player available here at eight. I know they drafted Daniel Thomas last year but with it being a two back league, Richardson can come in as the starter with Thomas and Bush taking over for Richardson on third downs or in goal line situations.

9. Carolina Panthers: Dre Kirkpatrick CB Alabama: The Panthers must work on their defense to make sure Newton doesn’t have to do everything. Carolina was ranked dead last against the pass and must do something to slow down other teams from beating them in the air. This is a good young team who I expect to be a playoff contender couple years down the line but must improve their defense in order to do so.

10. Buffalo Bills: Jonathon Martin OT Stanford: This is the best scenario for the Bills come Draft night. When the Bills suffered injuries to their offensive line and had to move players around, the offense suffered and so did Ryan Fitzpatrick. Demetrius Bell is not a franchise Left Tackle, while Jonathon Martin is. Martin can solidify the offensive line and ensure Ryan Fitzpatrick stays up right and the Bills can get back to the team who was 5-2.