unoriginal
In the Starting Line-Up
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2006
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Up until the other night I said that Koppen was our best OL. I have never seen an OC jacked up and knocked back 2 yards by a NT the way Koppen was by Williams.
Evidently Williams saw something with Koppen which allowed him to get under Koppens pads and knock him back. That is the only way he could have done what he did.
I'll say that it was the most impressive technique execution that I have seen from a NT in a very long time.
Koppen has had problems from NTs for a long while. This year Kris Jenkins in the Jets game was driving him backwards quite a bit, and I also felt he was subpar against the Chiefs two tackles as well.
But this phenominon is not unusual for centers, who tend to be the smallest members of the line, and who also have one of the their hands tied up by the act of snapping the ball.
Koppen coming out of college was rated as a smart but weak prospect who'd have difficulty blocking superior athletes, a career backup type a la Russ Hochstein, and while he's exceeded expectations he also frequently plays to type.