Green Bay Packers rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper returned to the lineup Sunday night in Seattle after missing the previous three games with a hamstring injury. In his first game back, Cooper made a big impact. In fact, Edgerrin Cooper looks like he has the potential to be a difference maker for the Packers, something that is rare in modern NFL defenses.
Packers Rookie Edgerrin Cooper Looks Like a Difference Maker: His Rookie Year So Far
The Packers selected Cooper in the second round of this year’s NFL Draft. The former Texas A&M star struggled with injuries in training camp and during the preseason which hampered his development.
While Cooper played in the season opener, he did not start. In fact, through the team’s first 14 games, Cooper started only one. He’s been on the field for just 46 percent of the Packers defensive snaps while playing in 11 games and missing three due to injury.
While Cooper has played less than half the defensive snaps, he has made an impact when he’s been on the field.
The one game he started was a special one. In the Packers Week 8 win over the Jaguars, Cooper earned NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors. The rookie recorded a sack, made nine total tackles, forced a fumble, and broke up a pass.
Cooper’s playing time increased until he suffered a hamstring injury which caused him to miss the team’s last three games against San Francisco, Miami and Detroit.
An Outstanding Performance
Cooper returned to the lineup for the Packers Week 15 game in Seattle. His impact was felt immediately. Cooper didn’t start and played just 34 snaps on defense. Still, he made seven total tackles, recorded a sack, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits and made the first interception of his NFL career.
The sack came on the Packers first defensive series of the game and helped set the tone for the defense. The interception came with the Packers leading by 10 in the fourth quarter and helped salt away the victory for Green Bay. Three plays later, Jordan Love found Romeo Doubs in the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown pass that put the game out of reach.
“He’s just a hell of a player,” head coach Matt LaFleur said after the game. “It’s been fun to watch and witness his growth.”
In the process, Cooper became the first Packers rookie to intercept a pass and record a sack in the same game since Esara Tuaolo did it against the Tampa Bay Bucs in Week 9 of the 1991 season.
Packers Rookie Edgerrin Cooper Looks Like a Difference Maker: The Future
Cooper has earned more playing time down the stretch. The big obstacle keeping him from doing that remains the occasional missed assignments and rookie mistakes. The coaching staff prefers to bring Cooper along gradually at this point, but every time he’s on the field, the defense seems to play better.
Cooper possesses great speed for a linebacker. He was timed at 4.51 in the 40-yard dash at the combine. That helped make him the first linebacker taken in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Cooper’s speed also helps the Packers pass rush and makes the team less vulnerable to short passes thrown to the middle of the field. That was a big problem for the Green Bay defense when Cooper was out of the lineup. He can also chase down ball carriers in the running game, blitz the quarterback, act as a spy against mobile quarterbacks, and stay with tight ends or running backs in pass coverage.
Veteran teammates have taken notice of Cooper’s talent and potential. “He’s special, man,” defensive end Kingsley Enagbare said after the win in Seattle. “From the stat line, you can see he can do everything, make tackles, make interceptions, get the sacks. There’s literally nothing he’s physically not able to do. The sky’s the limit for him. He’s going to be a hell of a player one day – or continue to be a hell of a player.”
“We use him in every single thing we do,” defensive tackle Kenny Clark said. “He’s fast, he’s got all the ability of the world. We’ve just got to keep pushing him.”
The sky is the limit for Cooper and his head coach sees it as well.
“Coop is a hell of an athlete, man,” LaFleur added. “He’s a really good football player. I think he’s just scratching the surface of what he can become in this league.”
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