Paul Bretl | 10/30/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — As Packers rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper gets more reps and is more comfortable within Jeff Hafley’s defense,
Through the early portion of the season, there was an easing process for Cooper. For one, making the leap from college to the NFL is going to come with a learning curve for any rookie, but that learning curve can be elongated when there is missed time.
Cooper didn’t play in the preseason due to injury, and even though he was available on Sundays in the regular season, early on, he was frequently a limited participant in practice–again limiting the number of practice reps he got each week. Knowing the playbook is one thing, but being able to execute on your responsibilities during a game when everything is moving at light speed is a completely different task.
However, in recent weeks, Cooper has been healthy, gaining more and more of those valuable reps, while the coaching staff is also getting a better grasp on what he does really well and how they can best leverage those abilities within the game-plan.
“He’s starting to understand what he’s doing,” said Jeff Hafley last Thursday. “He’s practicing more, he’s stayed healthy, he’s practicing better and he’s proving to us and his teammates that he knows what he’s doing and he can execute at a high level. The more he does that and the better he plays, the more he’ll play.”
Cooper would run a 4.51-second 40-yard dash during the pre-draft process this past Spring–an incredibly fast time for a linebacker. With that speed comes versatility and that provides Hafley quite a bit of flexibility when it comes to the game-plan he puts together and what he asks of Cooper.
There is also a positive trickle-down effect of that, with Cooper’s speed and ability to operate in space then impacting what is asked of other position groups, specifically the defensive backs, because he can cover a lot of ground.
“He provides a lot of speed for us, especially on the second level,” said Xavier McKinney after Sunday’s win in Jacksonville. “He can cover. He can rush. It allows us to do a whole lot more on the back end. Just mix in different calls and he’s been a great addition for us. Obviously, he’s still learning and going through bumps here and there, but that’s why guys like me, I’m here, and other leaders on this defense. That’s why we’re here to get him through that. But he’s been good overall.”
That speed and versatility are leading to quite a few splash plays for Cooper. Hafley has utilized Cooper as a blitzer often this season, sending him after the quarterback on nearly 17 percent of his snaps–ranking in the top one-third of linebackers in the NFL.
Cooper has then been effective with those opportunities, with a pass-rush win rate of 15.8 percent–which ranks 14th among all linebackers–generating four pressures, including three sacks, along with a huge forced fumble against the Jaguars that eventually led to a touchdown for the Green Bay offense.
“That was a huge sequence in the game,” said Matt LaFleur of Cooper’s forced fumble. “You’re talking about the forced fumble and I thought Devonte Wyatt did a heck of a job bodying out the offensive linemen to get that ball. Really, when you look at both takeaways, you could argue that might have been the difference in the game – two takeaways for 14 points.”
But it’s not only that the Packers are sending Cooper as a blitzer, but also important is how Hafley is doing it as well. Again, with that speed of his, Cooper is being utilized on stunts, blitzing from different parts of the field, along with Hafley using different looks to disguise where the blitzes are coming from, which can include not even sending Cooper, but dropping him into coverage.
“He’s another guy when you watch his skill-set, I think there’s places where we can put him that are a little bit different, too,” Hafley said, “because I think he has a unique skill-set and there’s some things that can do on different downs and distances that I think he gives us a pretty good chance to have success. Again, you don’t want to rush some of these rookies into having to learn too much because then they’re not going to be good. You’ve got to be careful there, too.”
As McKinney said, Cooper is still learning and going through some ups and downs, that in part, can’t be worked through without more reps and Cooper seeing more looks from opposing offenses. However, Sunday in Jacksonville, we saw one of those ‘you can’t teach that’ moments, when Cooper forced a downfield pass breakup.
The Packers were lined up in Tampa-2, where the responsibility of the middle linebacker is the deep middle. As the ball was being snapped, Cooper was at the line of scrimmage showing blitz, he then made a beeline and 30-plus yards down the field he forced the pass breakup, knocking the ball away from Jaguars’ slot receiver Christian Kirk.
To put it simply, there aren’t many linebackers who are going to make that exact play.
“Coop, he made a lot of splash plays,” LaFleur added. “I think the third-down play where they tried to go to Kirk down the middle was a max pro look and he’s bluffing up in there like he’s gonna blitz and then he has to get out. Not many guys, whether it’s a linebacker, safety, there’s not too many people who can make that play and he made a heck of a play on it.
“Certainly there’s some things he’s gotta get better at. He’s a young player. We’ve seen the splash plays. They’re all over the place. He’s dynamic. He’s super-athletic and I think he’s getting better and better each and every week.”
As should be the case, Cooper’s role is continuing to expand. With the linebacker unit healthy, he’s been the primary third backer on the field when the Packers are in their base 4-3 alignment. He’s also seeing additional nickel opportunities on the more obvious passing downs. Over the last three games, he is averaging almost 38 snaps per game.
But Cooper isn’t focused on how many snaps he’s seeing each week. All that he cares about is that when his number is called, he’s making plays–which he is doing a lot of.
“Whenever I’m out there, my main focus is to not to think about that,” Cooper said in Jacksonville. “When I’m out there, just do what I do and try to make plays.”