2012 NFL Draft Scouting Report: UNC Tar Heel DE Quinton Coples

The college football season is officially over and only the Superbowl lies ahead of us in the NFL.  That means it’s Draft time for 30 of the leagues 32 teams.  With so many prospects to scout, workout, interview, study film, teams are getting prepared for April’s Draft today.  Meanwhile yesterday’s college stars are preparing themselves for their chance at the games highest level.  Including a few of our favorite UNC Tar Heels.

For our scouting report series on Tar Heel NFL hopefuls we’ve teamed up with NFLMock.com the networks experts on everything surrounding the NFL Draft.  Keeping It Heel would like to thank Sayre Bedinger, Jesse Bartolis the lead editors at NFLMock.com  for generously offering to share their UNC reviews with Tar Heel nation.  And of course the entire staff at NFLMock.com for sharing their hard work.  Check out NFLMock.com for expert analysis of all the top NFL prospects.  Today we’re featuring one of the top Tar Heels in the draft DE Quinton Coples.  For the first edition 0n Dwight Jones click HERE

This scouting report was written by Jesse Bartolis

This is our Quinton Coples 2012 NFL Draft Scouting report. For all of our other scouting reports go to our scouting report page.

Measruables

6’5 285 pounds

Combine numbers to be posted when available

NFLMock.com dives into the rest of their scouting report after the jump

Stats

2010:

59 tackles, 15.5 TFL, 10 sacks, 12 QB Hurries, 2 FF

2011 (10/12/2011)

22 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 3 QB hurries

NFLmocks preseason bio

Probably the top defensive end prospect in the entire draft. After a sophomore season where he had five sacks, he replaced suspended Robert Quinn and passed all tests with flying colors. Coples had 59 total tackles, 10 sacks, and 15.5 tackles for loss, proving he is more than capable of handling the full time load. Now, he will be receiving constant attention, even though the Heels return a pretty star-studded defensive line. Coples has the requisite size to be a dominant defensive end in a 4-3 scheme, but he needs to improve against the run. He will be on all pre-season award watch lists for defensive linemen, and is our top defensive end heading into the 2011 season. Tall defender who knows how to use his superior athleticism. Had one forced fumble in 2010, and with his size and strength, could show more of that killer instinct. This is a guy that has a lot of pressure on him this year to really perform at a high level, and I think he will answer the call.

Pros–Great size for a defensive end..Versatility can play both tackle (43) and end (43 or 34)…pass rush ability…makes plays behind the line of scrimmage…opportunistic (will benefit from it being a down year for defensive linemen)…good at getting his hands into the offensive linemen and keeping the OL hands off him..strong, good bull rush…stunts pretty well…

Cons–inconsistency in 2011 thus far, wasn’t even a starter until player went down with injury…struggling to adjust to double teams…not a prototypical speed rusher…should be a much  better player vs the run for a player with his size..plays too high..can get turned and pushed easily out of play…not going to shoot many gaps…

Player comparison--Adrian Clayborn, DE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Jesse’s comparison: Justin Smith, DE, 49ers

Other comparisons I’ve seen: Tyson Jackson (Chiefs-like that one), Carlos Dunlap, DE, Bengals

Thoughts

Color me unimpressed with Quinton Coples. There are things to love about Coples, he has good size and strength. He does well at stacking offensive linemen, shedding them and making plays, but I think his first step is lacking and I think he’s more of a space eater than he is a dominant pass rusher at the next level. The Tyson Jackson comparison I’ve seen is a pretty good one and I can definitely see Coples turning into Tyson Jackson a few years down the road. Now there are things to like about Coples, he does have excellent closing speed once he gets a free passage at the ball carrier/Quarterback, but he doesn’t do a great job of creating those off the snap, unless he’s stunting, he has good hand use as well. I compared him to Justin Smith because I think he can be that kind of player, who uses his hands, and hustle to make a lot of plays, but I don’t think he’s Justin Tuck or anything as a two way 43 Defender like you’d want from a potential top five pick. He’ll be over-drafted because this draft class is down. I prefer all of the defensive linemen drafted in front of him last year except maybe Cameron Heyward. I’m not saying he can’t be a good player (Justin Smith is), but I think any team drafting him in the top five is going to be very disappointed when all is said and done. If he fell into the mid-first round though, it’d be a steal.

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