Paul Bretl | 1/3/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Since Edgerrin Cooper first arrived in Green Bay for rookie minicamp this past spring, the level of speed and athleticism he possesses has been evident. But now over the last month, we are seeing those natural abilities coupled with increased comfort in Jeff Hafley’s defensive scheme and what he’s being asked to do result in what have become routine splash plays.
After missing three games with a hamstring injury, Cooper returned in Week 15 against Seattle and didn’t miss a beat, totaling three pressures, including one sack, while making four solo tackles, and in coverage, allowing just two receptions on six targets with an interception and a pass breakup.
For the second time this season, Cooper was Named the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Week for that performance and is the first Packers’ player to accomplish this feat since Clay Matthews did it during the 2010 season and Cooper is the first Packers’ rookie to win the award twice since its inception in 1984.
“Coop’s a hell of an athlete, man,” said Matt LaFleur after the Seattle game. “He’s a really good football player. I think he’s just scratching the surface of what he could become in this league.”
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The following week against the New Orleans Saints, Cooper would lead the Packers’ defense in tackles despite playing only 38 of the 55 defensive snaps. Then most recently, in this past game, Green Bay gave Cooper his largest workload of the season, with him being on the field for 71 of the defense’s 72 defensive snaps, showcasing the growing trust and confidence that the coaching staff has in the rookie.
Among all linebackers in football over these last three games, Cooper ranks 11th in quarterback pressures, 11th in solo tackles, he’s second in stops–or plays that constitute a loss for the offense, according to PFF–and he’s 14th in passer rating when targeted. Or in short, pick a category and you’ll likely find Cooper ranked among the best.
“I get it,” said Hafley. “I totally see what everybody sees. If you turn on the TV copy of that guy, you can make a 12-play cut-up and it’s just like, ‘Whoa.’ The way he runs people down, the way he weaves under gaps and shows up behind the line of scrimmage, it might look like the ball is going over there and somehow he comes inside and beats it and dives and makes the play before he’s supposed to…He’s got a lot of natural ability, and he’s getting better and better.”
Clearly, the numbers speak for themselves, but oftentimes, it’s how Cooper makes those plays that stand out. With 4.51 speed, he has the ability to shoot gaps, take unique angles to the ball, and erase space between him and the ball carrier that doesn’t appear possible.
With that unique skill set comes versatility for Cooper and flexibility for Hafley in how he utilizes him and how he constructs the gameplan. One area where we see this is in Cooper’s usage as a blitzer, both in the number of opportunities he’s had and in what he’s asked to do on those pressures, whether it be delayed, a simulated pressure as a disguise, on stunts orchestrated with the defensive line, or where Hafely sends him from.
Cooper will enter Week 18 blitzing at the 18th-highest rate among linebackers this season, and he’s won those reps at the eighth-highest rate, per PFF’s metrics. However, as Hafley described on Thursday, there’s still more out there for him when it comes to getting after the quarterback.
“There’s a lot of things we can do to maximize his pass rush, and I think we’re just scratching the surface,” Hafley said on Thursday. “We did some fun things with him today that he looked pretty good at doing. But I’m not going to tell you what it is. We’ll have to wait until we see it on film one of these days.”
The trickle-down effect to the rest of the defense of having a player with Cooper’s speed in the middle is that it not only affords Hafley flexibility in how he utilizes Cooper, but also in what he asks of other defenders as well.
With that aforementioned speed, there’s an ability to operate in space, and as a coverage defender that Cooper possesses, that’s now a part of the equation. Being able to cover as much ground as Cooper can limits YAC opportunities and can shrink passing windows for the quarterback in the blink of an eye, which can then impact what is asked of other position groups, specifically the defensive backs, as Xavier McKinney highlighted after the Jacksonville game.
“He played the most plays he’s ever played last week,” added Hafley, “and that’s the most that we’ve ever put on him, and I think he’s going to grow from that, and I think what you’re starting to see too is we are going to be able to bit by bit as he grows, put him in some pretty fun positions. Another guy, what a great draft pick and what a great person. He loves ball. He’s got a really bright future.”
Now, with all that said, as impressive as Cooper has been, he’s far from a finished product as well. His performance against Minnesota is an example of this. While there were again those splash plays, which included four tackles for loss, his overall performance was a “mixed bag,” as LaFleur put it, with the Vikings passing offense finding quite a bit of success over the middle of the field.
“I thought he made a lot of splash plays,” said LaFleur after the Vikings game, “but there was a lot of plays that we gotta make that really hurt us as well. So I’d say it was a mixed bag. I think he’s so talented and I think the sky’s the limit for him and I love having him. But it’s just the consistency of which you play. I mean, so you just gotta make sure you’re dialed in and we know he’s an incredible talent and he’s going to make some splash plays and he did.”
Not to be forgotten is that Cooper is still a rookie, who is navigating the learning curve that comes with making the jump from college to the NFL, and elongating that learning process has been the time he’s missed in training camp in the regular season due to injuries.
“I just think in time, you’ve just got to be careful with how much you give them early, and then it just like eventually you fill up a glass and everything just spills out, so you’ve just got to go slow with it, and I think he’s progressed well,” Hafley said. “He’s another guy, though, that he’s been injured and he hasn’t practice das much and now he’s starting to get into it, so hopefully that consistency goes.”
The talent that Cooper possesses is undeniable and we’ve seen the huge impact that he can make on a football game over these last three weeks. However, because he still is such a young player, as dynamic as he’s been, there is still a lot more out there for Cooper and what he can offer this Packers team–and, for the Packers, that’s the exciting component of all this.
“I think there’s another level there that I think he can continue to take his game to,” LaFleur said.