.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
Xavier Cooper racking up sacks thanks to quick first step
By Will Gibson
Linemen running 40-yard dashes has always been weird. Except for the rare case when the big hosses are chasing a play downfield, that sort of relatively long distance speed is not particularly important to the large gentlemen who line up nearest the ball. More important to life in the trenches are reaction time and first step quickness. Browns rookie defensive tackle Xavier Cooper knows it, and his quickness off the ball has played a major role in his leading the NFL with three sacks, albeit in two preseason games.
Browns head coach Mike Pettine praised Cooper after practice in Berea Saturday, and cited Cooper’s quickness as a reason why the team selected him in the third round of this year’s draft.
“The thing that we noticed on the college tape was he had the most explosive get-off of any of the d-linemen that we evaluated," Pettine said. "As far as the ball [being snapped] to him moving, I would put him up against anybody else in the draft class. He has a great knack and a feel for that first step and that get-off.
“With that get-off comes disruptiveness that is difficult on an offense when your offensive linemen are slow and basically chasing a guy and getting bubbled back into the backfield”
Cooper was appreciative of Pettine’s praise, and made it clear that he has put plenty of work into getting quicker off the ball.
“That means a lot. I worked hard all my career at Washington State," he said. "That is a big thing when you are getting to the quarterback or stopping the run. All good defensive linemen have a first step. I know if I was a coach at the NFL level and I [were] scouting the defensive line…I would want to see his first step because that determines how quick he is.”
In our look at the Browns draft class of 2015, an NFL scout saw Cooper’s athleticism and pass rush ability as his greatest attributes. Cooper isn’t a mountain of a man like Danny Shelton and Phil Taylor are. He isn’t a traditional run-stopping 3-4 defensive end, but more of a knifing 4-3 defensive tackle who can get past a guard’s shoulder and collapse the pocket from the inside.
Adequate athlete whose testing numbers were outstanding (1.61 second 10-yard dash, 4.86 second 40, 29 bench press reps, 7.23 second three-cone, 4.37 short shuttle). He looks like a classic 3-technique who will be a sub pass rusher for the Browns. His average height and 31.5-inch arms do not necessarily project to a classic base 5-technique in a 3-4 but other teams have had success with shorter-limbed players at the position. Hard to get fired up about this player in this scheme but he does improve the pass rush on third down.
Pettine added that Cooper has done well with diagnosing plays, and that he isn’t always selling out in pursuit of the quarterback.
“He is really good with his hands and I think he has a good understanding of what offenses are trying to do," Pettine said. "Guys that gather pre-snap information – he has shown a knack for being able to hedge his bet a little bit knowing whether it was going to be run or a pass or know whether the run was going to him or away from him.”
Cooper, who reportedly has nicknames ranging from X and X-Man to Coop de Ville and Baby Suge Knight, says that he jumped offsides plenty when he was younger, but now he has a better sense of when and how to anticipate the snap.
“My freshman year in college, I had about six offside penalties,” he said Saturday. “I know (Washington State head coach) Mike Leach got on me a little bit for that. Then I started having more discipline.”
Cooper grew up playing sports at a local YMCA, but he didn’t play competitive football until he was a high school freshman. He played basketball and soccer before that. From the time he stepped onto the gridiron, however, he had a knack for reading the center-quarterback exchange.
“I was born with quickness,” Cooper said, “And on top of that, timing the snap count is something I am good at. I have been really good at timing the snap count since high school. It is something I always watched, just trying to get that jump. Usually, offensive linemen are bigger than defensive linemen. I want to beat them to the spot.”
Cooper looks for tells in the center’s posture, a bit like a boxer looking for the slightest flinch of a muscle to indicate a coming punch.
“Part of it comes with film," he said. "If you really watch film – you guys can probably see it on Sundays just watching TV – you can feel how a guy is snapping the ball or the centers movement if he is leaning back or if his hand is getting red. Something is triggering him to snap the ball. Any type of movement I feel on the line, I am going off that.”
Sacking the quarterback is an easy way for a defensive lineman to get noticed. Cooper only has three tackles in the Browns’ first two preseason games, but all three have been quarterback takedowns behind the line. The Browns could have a deep stable of interior linemen with Cooper, Danny Shelton, Randy Starks, and Phil Taylor. In the meantime, Cooper is trying to maximize his chances.
“I think this scheme fits me well,” Cooper said. “When I am out there, I am just trying to make the most of my plays whether it is a lot of reps or a little.”
More from Waiting For Next Year:
