Packers Must Get More Out of Their ‘Most Underappreciated’ Player

The Green Bay Packers are a good team with a good roster but without a lot of star players.

Maybe linebacker Edgerrin Cooper can become the next game-changing player.

NFL.com selected one underappreciated player from each of the 32 teams. Tom Blair selected Cooper.

“Rashan Gary is gone, (Micah) Parsons and Devonte Wyatt are coming off season-ending injuries and there’s a new coordinator (Jonathan Gannon) and middle linebacker (Zaire Franklin) in the house,” Blair said toward the end of his explanation. “Cooper has the chance to prove he can be a steadying hand in Green Bay as he moves through his third professional season.”

Cooper had a brilliant rookie season. He not only led all rookie defenders but he led all off-the-ball linebackers with 13 tackles for losses as a rookie. The big-play production dropped last season, with a half-sack and four tackles for losses, but he finished second on the team with 117 tackles.

Inside the Numbers for Edgerrin Cooper

Next Gen Stats credited Cooper with a team-high 66 stops, defined as a tackle that results in a successful play for the defense via a negative EPA. That ranked 16th in the league. He had a team-high 18 hustle stops – the next two Packers defenders combined for 19 – which is a “stop” in which the defender covers 20-plus to make the tackle. That tied for third in the league.

As good as he was as a rookie, Cooper had only 47 stops and eight hustle stops, so he was much more productive in 2025 from that perspective.

Green Bay Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (56) takes down Chicago Bears running back Kyle Monangai. | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

In coverage, he’s allowed only one touchdown in his career. None of them came on a pass thrown beyond the line of scrimmage. Entering Week 16, Next Gen’s insights noted, “Cooper has faced 77 targets beyond the line of scrimmage without allowing a touchdown in coverage since the start of last season, the most among off-ball linebackers and the third-most among all defenders league-wide, trailing only Joey Porter Jr. (130) and Jamel Dean (112).”

The specific snap numbers changed during the final three games of the regular season but that will hold true entering the start of the upcoming season.

According to Sports Info Solutions, Cooper allowed 3.3 yards per target last season. That’s the fourth-best number among linebackers who were targeted more than 25 times.

There are areas where Cooper must improve.

According to Pro Football Focus, 47 off-the-ball linebackers rushed the passer at least 50 times last season. Cooper ranked 23rd in pass-rush win rate and 22nd in pass-rushing productivity, a metric that measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap.

In 2024, with 47 linebackers once again getting 50 pass-rushing opportunities, Cooper was ninth in win rate and fifth in pass-rush productivity. (His new sidekick, Zaire Franklin, was 12th in win rate and first in pass-rush productivity.)

He also must improve as a tackler, though there was a significant step forward last season. In 2025, 67 linebackers played at least 489 snaps (Cooper’s number as a rookie). Cooper was 47th in missed-tackle percentage. In 2024, Cooper was 62nd in missed-tackle percentage.

“A Great Player”

“I think Coop is a great player,” new linebackers coach Sam Siefkes said recently. “I think he’s had a great first couple of years. Since I’ve been here, he’s done an excellent job of competing, working hard, obviously taking to the coaching points that we’ve been talking about in the meetings.

“I’m excited about all the guys, though – not just Coop – and I think there’s a lot of guys that have put a lot of work in and effort to the new things that we are presenting to them. And there’s carryover in anything you do, from that aspect. But I’m excited about all those guys coming together. And Coop’s just a part of that puzzle. You know?”

That’s a nice, politically correct answer from a coach just getting to know his players. But Cooper must be more than “part of that puzzle.” He must be a big part of the puzzle.

Cooper was at his best when in attack mode as a rookie. Some of those opportunities disappeared following the blockbuster trade for Parsons. With Parsons likely to miss the start of the season, it would behoove new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon to put Cooper in position to be a playmaking linebacker and not just an ordinary linebacker.

“Just using our tools all over, understanding the players that we have and just putting everybody in the best position to succeed,” Cooper told NFL.com. “And, you know, that's what we want to do so we're all on the same page and we can all play to the fullest.”

When Cooper has at least a half-sack, the Packers are 5-0.

“Obviously, Edge is such a unique player,” general manager Brian Gutekunst told reporters at the owners meetings. “He is and he’s so versatile with his ability. He can play off the ball, in the run game, to cover, to rush the passer. He’s really a complete linebacker, as is Zaire, so those guys, it’ll be interesting to see how that evolves under Jonathan’s new defense.”

During his two years in the NFL, Cooper is 31st with 205 tackles. He is one of 14 players with at least 200 tackles and 15 tackles for losses.

“With me, I just in all phases try to get a step better,” he told NFL.com. “This being my third year coming up, I feel a lot more comfortable than I did last year. Just knowing the game, knowing the schemes, just having trust in myself and going out there and playing full and fast and just do what I’ve got to do.”

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