New York Jets head coach maintains that DE Quinton Coples was first choice in drafts - NFL News
New York Jets head coach, Rex Ryan on Tuesday denied rumours that he had another player on his mind for the number 16 overall pick rather than their eventual pick defensive end, Quinton Coples.
According to a report from the Sports Xchange on Sunday, the Jets wanted to draft Mt. San Antonio College graduate, Bruce Irvin with their first round pick.
Irvin though was picked up by the Seattle Seahawks and according to the website a Jets official called up the Seahawks “war room” to complain about stealing the pick by the franchise.
Ryan speaking at a charity event denied the report and said that Coples was always their first choice in the drafts and not Irvin.
"Not at 16, I can tell you that much. He's a guy we did a lot of stuff on. We liked Bruce Irvin as a player, but not ahead of the first two guys we took."
The Jets drafted Coples and took wide receiver, Stephen Hill in the second round to shore up the roster ahead of the new 2012-13 season.
Jets defensive coordinator, Mike Pettine who was also present at the charity event said that they are highly excited at the drafting of Coples and he will make a great addition to the team in the coming seasons.
“We were very fired up as a defensive staff that we were able to add that type of ability to our room. In today’s NFL, you almost have to work backwards when you build your defensive roster. You have to think about third down, spread offense first.”
Pettine also said that he felt the Jets defence was slowing down in recent seasons and in such a pass dependent lead they needed to gain some speed in defence which they will now have with the arrival of the defensive end.
"The league is evolving that way to be a pass-first league, and we felt we were getting a little dinosaur-ish inside,"
The Jets missed out on the playoffs last season because of locker room problems and this year are looking to get back to challenging for the postseason spots.
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