There is a slip joint for the column to colapse but the design is such that slop isn't likely & 15 degrees isn't possible... If it's not in the coupler than my next question is are you sure it's in the column & not the box? And if it could be in the box are you checking with the engine off or the engine running? Cause engine off means you'll feel lots of what you perceive as slop but actually is the control valve opening a fluid passage in either direction....

"The Armies of our ancestors were lucky, in that they were not trailed by a second army of pencil pushers."