Paylor:Chiefs rookie cornerback Marcus Cooper rises to the occasion against Giants
 

Chiefs rookie cornerback Marcus Cooper rises to the occasion against Giants
By TEREZ A. PAYLOR
The Kansas City Star
Marcus Cooper figured he might get a chance at extended playing time Sunday.

Top cornerback Brandon Flowers’ knee had been giving him trouble all week, and someone was going to have to replace Flowers in the Chiefs’ man-heavy defensive scheme when he was officially ruled out against the Giants.

“We're kind of short at corner, so I knew there was the possibility of me getting in,” Cooper said. “I just took that mind-set into practice all week and just went from there.”

Cooper earned his first career start as the Chiefs opened with extra defensive backs on the field. But once veteran Dunta Robinson, the Chiefs’ slot corner to this point, got burned at one of the outside positions by Giants star Victor Cruz for a 69-yard touchdown in the second quarter, the Chiefs’ coaching staff decided to pair Cooper on the outside with starter Sean Smith almost exclusively.

Let’s just say it turned out pretty well for Cooper, a 6-foot-2, 192-pound rookie from Rutgers. He received the most extended action of his four-game career against a star-studded receiving corps featuring Cruz and Hakeem Nicks and finished with a tackle and two pass deflections.

“That’s a tough receiving corps and they’re going to get you every once in a while, but he did a nice job and kept battling,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “He’s new at that position. He was a wide receiver some in college at Rutgers, but I was proud of him.”

Most important, Cooper didn’t get beaten deep for a quick-strike play, which is always a threat because of the single-high coverage Chiefs defensive coordinator Bob Sutton prefers.

“That’s how we pride ourselves, on defense and on this team, period,” said safety Kendrick Lewis. “If one guy goes down, the next guy up steps in, and we don’t miss a beat. Everyone’s a starter on our team because you don’t know when your time is gonna be.

“Marcus Cooper's time was (now), and he was able to rise up to the occasion.”

Not that there weren’t some overwhelming moments for Cooper, a converted wide receiver who started 13 games for Rutgers last season and had one interception, two fumble recoveries and blocked a kick.

He was taken by San Francisco in the seventh round of April’s NFL Draft and was picked up by the Chiefs shortly before the season started, but he wondered whether he would really get a chance to show his stuff in extended stretches.

“You know, when you're a rookie, people don't expect for you to come out and do as much, especially when you’re drafted lower,” Cooper said.

That’s why Cooper feels so fortunate to have landed with a team that values his skill set and is giving him an opportunity to prove his worth.

“I’m a bigger guy, you know, a longer guy,” Cooper said. “(This system) always works for those … kind of guys, with long arms and stuff like that. That definitely helps me out a lot.”

It certainly did Sunday.

“He displayed it out there today ― that shows he fits in this scheme,” Lewis said. “He came out and competed his butt off.”

But Cooper, who had a handful of defensive reps in the Chiefs’ first three games, said he kept things simple in an effort to keep his nerves under control. His only focus when he went out on the field was playing his technique and doing his job, and now, he just hopes he will continue to get more chances to do the same.

“This whole experience is an ‘Oh, wow’ moment,” Cooper said. “I worked hard to get here and I'm finally here. I'm not settled (for) that. … I'll just keep going and hopefully I can continue to get better.”

he played a great game and kept things from happening in the giants pass offense, but almost everything in the pass defense looks good compared to this

http://blacksportsonline.com/home/wp...a-robinson.gif

Remember the days when the Chiefs would never make an adjustment like this, and just keep watching the same players (like Dunta) **** up all day long? What a breath of fresh air this was.

William Bartee comes to mind. Safety in college, made to transition to corner (That's what was known as The Chiefs Way back then, draft a Safety and make them play corner), and absolutely NEVER learned to look back for the football.

Vermiel could never separate business from personal though. Bartee loved his wife's cooking, and hey, "He's a good football player."

The sheer number of scabs that this team kept as starters on defense for so many seasons, that never would have made another team's roster was mind boggling.

Yeah, the Pat Dennis,William Bartee days:shake:

Gosh, Dunta getting burned made me reminisce about Jacques Reeves' terrific performances in 2012. I was sure that Dunta was going to be a liability for us throughout the remainder of the game. It was a great feeling to be able to eat my words at the end of the game, this truly is a brand new team.

Was sad to see him leave SF. Great that he is helping you guys......

I noticed that too. At first all I could think is WTF they were thinking putting Dunta up man like that when they know the Giants like to go deep. Then, after that, they actually did something about it.

I was wrong, Sutton seems to be turning out to be a great hire.

I won't pretend to have watched Dunta's whole pro career closely, but he looks like a DB that needs to be playing zone with his eyes in the backfield. I would never want him manned up on anyone outside without help. At any rate, once Flowers returns, I definitely think Cooper has earned some playing time. When opponents go 3 WR, have Cooper and Smith handle the outside receivers, with Flowers in the slot.

Dunta Robinson should retire today.

Eric Hicks is the all time leader in good guy that kept his job for no reason. DV was an idiot for the defense he put on the field.

Kind of the way I always felt about Arenas. Arenas just wasn't fast enough, in my opinion. Speed and height, was what he was short on...

We are lucky the Giants only burned ****a once.

I watched this replay about 10 times last night. Either berry or lewis were confused. it looks like it was supposed to be man 2 free, and berry was suppose to help over the top. if you watch lewis, he bails to help smith over the top and the corners are playing tight man, inside leverage with trail technique. Berry has to be over top for dunta to play trail.