Whatever happened to Marcus Cooper?

Oct 20, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Cooper (31) after the game against the Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs won 17-16. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

Cooper, who was showing flashes of greatness in his first year, has seemingly become an afterthought.

His second year in the league was not marked with the successes of the first. Cooper only appeared in 13 games for the team, four starts, recorded 21 tackles, three passes defended and zero interceptions.

Cooper began to backslide, losing his job to Ron Parker, whom the coaching staff trusted more. Injuries also played part of the reason for the lack of playing time, but his lack of being productive in the defense was his ultimate downfall. Additionally, rookie Phillip Gaines was also making more progress than Cooper, therefore  seeing more playing time as a result.

Another cog in the Cooper starting job running amuck, is when the team drafted Marcus Peters (18th overall) and Steven Nelson (98th overall) in the 2015 draft.The selection of two cornerbacks by general manager John Dorsey in the same draft, was not the kind of positive sign Cooper was looking for.

As the team moves into training camp Cooper, who was a starter, is looking at being the last man in the cornerback depth chart for the team. In order for him to make the roster of 53, he is going to have to show an significant improvement over last year.

It is possible he was suffering from the sophomore slump, as the reason behind his slide from his rookie to second year. This does happen for players from time to time who exhibit an understanding of the game, but seem to regress the following year with no real explanation as to why.

If Marcus, who is currently being used more in special teams than the defense, is not able to show the coaching staff improvement he might end up in the same situation he was in 2013.

Cooper is a good player, and has shown that he is able to a valuable part of the Chiefs. If he is able to make the turn back to where he was in his first year, there will more than likely be a roster spot for him. On the filp side if he is unable to separate himself from the new players, and continues his downward ways, he will certainly be looking for a new home in 2015.

There you have it, Addicts. Do you think Cooper still has a place on this team in 2015? Or will he be packing his bags? Let us know in the comments.

Thanks for reading.

Go Chiefs!