Seeing De’Vondre Campbell go to of all places, the 49ers, was a bit disappointing. He averaged 92 tackles with Atlanta and he tallied 129 in his first season in Green Bay en route to an All-Pro season.
But then the Packers made everyone do a heel turn with the selection of Edgerrin Cooper. The 45th selection was the first linebacker off the board.
Cooper is the guy that you want in the middle of your defense. He is going to cause problems all over the field. He will disrupt the pass game, he will disrupt the run game and he will make opposing offenses have fits.
“The speed that he brings to the table at the linebacker position is rare,” said Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst.
Whenever I watched Texas A&M play the last two years, the offense always had to pinpoint where Cooper was first. Last year, he had 11 tackles and three sacks vs. Alabama.
The one thing that Cooper could struggle with is that he could over run plays. When Clay Matthews was a young outside linebacker, there were times when he would overrun a play, which would in effect take him out of the play.
But I love Cooper’s aggressiveness. He is the epitome of what new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. He wants offenses to be uncomfortable and the best way to do that is by being aggressive and forcing the quarterback into quicker and tighter decisions.
Cooper, 22, is going to make mistakes this year but when you’ve got a guy that is promising to just give 110 percent each day, you have found yourself a winning player.
Remember when speed and athleticism were traits that the Packers defense sorely lacked? With Cooper and Quay Walker at linebacker combined with a very strong defensive backfield, that isn’t the case anymore.
There’s a reason why many analysts think that Cooper can be a foundational NFL player. It’s because he’s going to win over his teammates from Day 1 with his heart and effort.
Guys like that are not easy to come by on defense. And it’s why Hafley has been busy working on his devious laugh because he knows that his new 4-3 scheme is going to be tough to scheme against with a linebacker that can be anywhere at anytime.
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Cory Jennerjohn is a graduate from UW-Oshkosh and has been in sports media for over 15 years. He was a co-host on “Clubhouse Live” and has also done various radio and TV work as well. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently is a columnist for CHTV and also does various podcasts. He recently earned his Masters degree from the University of Iowa. He can be found on Twitter: @Coryjennerjohn
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