Cooper visited the Packers on April 7 and might be a good fit as an undrafted free agent.
Matt LaFleur might like big wide receivers, but Brian Gutekunst likes big linemen even more, especially among his day three NFL Draft selections and in undrafted free agency.
Since he took over as the Packers’ general manager, Gutekunst seems to have gone out of his way to find the biggest tackles he can year in and year out. Since 2018, we’ve seen a parade of massive tackles come to Green Bay, including Yosh Nijman, Caleb Jones, Luke Tenuta, Rasheed Walker, Kadeem Telfort, and Travis Glover, among others. Gutekunst has put together a bit of a cottage industry trying to develop the most massive offensive linemen he can — every player on that list is at least 6-foot-5 ½, and many are even taller.
If Gutekunst sticks to that tendency again this year, we could be looking at a player like Oklahoma State’s Dalton Cooper coming to Green Bay. The Packers hosted Cooper for a visit in early April, and he could be an interesting fit as a potential late pick or underafted free agent.
At 6-foot-5 ½ and 323 pounds, Cooper’s measurements aren’t quite what they were reported to be on the Oklahoma State athletics website, but he’s plenty big. Just as important, he’s athletic: his times in the 40-yard dash and movement drills generally meet the Packers’ historic thresholds, and his overall Relative Athletic Score of 9.01 accurately portrays his excellent athletic abilities.
He’s also experienced. After four years at Texas State, Cooper left the Sun Belt for the Big XII, signing on with Oklahoma State for his final two college seasons, starting at both left and right tackle for Mike Gundy’s Cowboys.
Is he good in addition to being big? That’s where evaluators differ. Some praise his developmental upside and clean track record at two programs; he was all-conference in both the Sun Belt and Big XII, and Pro Football Focus notes he didn’t surrender a single sack in 484 pass blocking snaps as a senior. But less positive prognosticators point to his inconsistent anchor (“gives up initial ground to power rushers,” writes Dane Brugler) and tendency to play too tall (“below average knee-bend and pad level fitting his run blocks,” says Chad Reuter of NFL.com).
But day three players are bound to have some warts, and as far as criticisms go, those aren’t too terrible for an offensive lineman. If the Packers are interested in adding another super-sized offensive lineman, Cooper fits the bill pretty well and will almost certainly be available on day three of this year’s draft.