Arizona Cardinals: The Jake Coker Story
Drew Stanton was on the Lions roster when they went 0-16, he had a lot of adversity when his playing career began. He signed with the Jets, then was traded to Indy when Tim Tebow came to town, almost two weeks after the acquisition. Bruce Arians had the opportunity to groom Stanton in his offense at Indianapolis. After Arians took the job in Arizona, Drew took a job to play in Arizona as the presumed starter, but after the acquisition of Carson, he’s been one of the best backups in the NFL.
The point of this is to mention the adversity that the current quarterbacks have been through, how they overcame the odds. Jake Coker went to Alabama after being a career backup for Jameis Winston and E.J. Manuel. Was a backup for Blake Sims after his transfer. Nick Saban took a chance on Coker, allowing him to play through the offense.
Coker was able to seize the opportunity at the Senior Bowl, showing at Mobile that he has pocket presence, the knock on him being his inaccuracy, going 3 of 8 for 23 yards. A snub at the combine, Coker thought he deserved the invite (even Mike Mayock thought so too). The odds have been plenty stacked against him.
I saw some of the knocks on him during the pre-draft interview, delivery and release are low, lethargic. Not enough arm talent, his twitch is unbalanced. Accuracy is iffy. Stares down targets. Can’t do it by himself. That’s all from the NFL.com page.
About 18 years ago, we saw one of the greatest undrafted free agents light the NFL up, as Kurt Warner made the Greatest Show on Turf. He took the challenge of being undrafted from Northern Iowa, did everything he could (including working at a supermarket) to make it into the NFL. We saw Kurt make the most of his situation with the Cardinals.
Not discrediting Matt Barkley, I do think he is a kid with some great tools, but I’m so drawn to Coker. The physical tools, big-game moments, unbelievable adversity, Jake Coker could eventually be the next undrafted success story. With the Cardinals believing that Carson Palmer (and Larry Fitzgerald) could retire after the season, Jake Coker could be his replacement.
Let’s knock on wood really quick, Carson Palmer is 36, he was coming off a season-ending injury two seasons ago, it’s very possible that Jake Coker could even have his opportunity to play this season, I would hope not.
The Cardinals should find out what kind of grit he has, can he persevere like Carson did a few seasons ago? Can he do something that hasn’t been done since Kurt Warner, and be a winning starting quarterback? I’ll gladly stake my odds on Jake Coker.