Green Bay Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper is altogether one of the most underrated players across the NFL, and perhaps the most gifted player on the roster.
A centerpiece and force multiplier for Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, Cooper burst onto the scene as a rookie, posting 87 total tackles with 3.5 sacks and one interception in 14 games.
Now fully healthy, and after a taste of postseason experience for Green Bay as a rookie, Cooper could be poised to take a massive step forward in 2025.
NFL Executive Raves About Packers’ Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper
Cooper is a big reason for the Packers’ optimism that the defense takes another big step forward in 2025.
After receiving All-Pro votes last season, former NFL Executive Marc Ross suggests Cooper will get across that finish line in his second season.
“Despite being banged up in training camp and missing three games during his rookie season,” Ross writes for NFL Media, of Cooper. “It was easy to see why Cooper was my favorite player coming out of the 2024 NFL Draft. He collected 3.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, an interception and 77 tackles while playing just 45 percent of the team’s defensive snaps last season. He was an absolute menace, and that was before adding about 10 pounds of muscle this offseason. Think of what Cooper — who looks as explosive as ever, per head coach Matt LaFleur — can do in a full-time role for Jeff Hafley’s unit. He has the ability to become an All-Pro player and should take the defense to the next level in his second season if he can stay healthy.”
Watching Cooper last season, it’s easy to see why Ross includes the Packers’ star among his “Guaranteed Risers” for the upcoming season.
In addition to Cooper’s production last season, he has an advantage entering 2025 given that he’ll have had a season’s worth of mental reps under his belt, won’t be making the leap from college football to the NFL, and will likely be leaned on even more as a leader on defense than he was a year ago.
The opportunity is there for Cooper to make a meteoric rise in the middle of the Packers’ defense, which could make Green Bay an even tougher out in 2025.
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