Edgerrin Cooper refused to let the Packers bury him on the depth chart

When Jeff Hafley arrived in Green Bay, the Packers had a linebacker problem. They still might, but the rookie second-round pick has been too good to deny.

For a brief while, rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper became Jeff Hafley’s Aaron Jones. Cooper’s obvious talent shined when he got his opportunities but something—and from the outside, we couldn’t figure out what—was keeping him from getting the lion’s share of the opportunities at his position. While the former Texas A&M second-round pick can hardly claim to be the lead back(er) for the Packers, Sunday marked the first time all season Cooper played more than half the defensive snaps, while also out-snapping Isaiah McDuffie. He’s arrived as a majority-time player for this defense and he wasted no time showing why Packers fans were wondering when he was going to play over Jamaal Williams.

A hip injury set Cooper back after he hit training camp as the preferred starter in the nickel. Hafley made the curious decision to play Eric Wilson as the Sam linebacker in base with Quay Walker as the Mike, and McDuffie as the Will. Strange, because if Cooper is good enough to be the weakside ‘backer in nickel, a personnel grouping Green Bay would likely use more than 70% of the time, why wouldn’t he be the full-time player there?

That question remains even as Cooper played 38 of 58 possible snaps against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Thanks to this bizarre substitution pattern, Wilson still played 14 snaps, but Cooper’s speed and pass rush made him the obvious choice in passing situations.

“He's getting better and better each and every week. You always see him make splash plays. There's still some mental mistakes that we've got to clean up,” Matt LaFleur told reporters on Monday.

“You tend to go through that with younger players.”

Pro Football Focus has yet to ding Cooper for giving up an explosive play and he’s 2nd in his draft class in yards per coverage snap allowed. Mistakes, if they don’t give up big plays, must be allowed and that’s what the Packers are doing with Cooper right now.

Even before his play time ramped up, Cooper flashed his pass-rush ability. His closing speed already ranks among the best in the NFL, and his 90.3 pass rush grade from PFF reflects that. Oh, that’s first in the NFL among all qualifying linebackers.