Packers rookies are just under two weeks away from reporting to training camp, but second-round pick Edgerrin Cooper already made a strong impression during the earlier portions of the offseason program.
Selected No. 45 overall as the first off-ball linebacker taken in the 2024 NFL Draft, Cooper potentially brings a crucial element of speed and smarts to Green Bay’s linebacking corps, something evidenced by his work during minicamp in June catching the eye of teammate Quay Walker.
“He’s showing flashes, getting downhill, playing, flying around,” Walker said of Cooper, via the team’s website. “I just tell him, ‘Don’t do no thinking, bro. Just fly around. If you mess up, it is what it is. You a rookie. Just take what you can learn … and go from there.'”
If he proves capable of cracking the starting lineup as a rookie, he and Walker, a third-year LB who possesses similar speed with a 4.52 40-yard dash, could form the new dynamic duo in the middle of defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s scheme.
Walker perhaps took his “no thinking” mindset too much to heart when he was a rookie himself considering he twice earned ejections during the 2022 season, but he’s since developed into a leader for the Packers. Plus, he’s right to suggest Cooper should rely on the instincts that got him here once the NFL game starts to click.