As the Green Bay Packers approach their third season with Jordan Love at the helm, much of the offseason chatter has focused on how they will transform from regular-season bullies to true championship contenders.
The easiest way to do that is with splashy personnel additions. General manager Brian Gutekunst brought in guard Aaron Banks and cornerback Nate Hobbs in free agency. They were minor signings compared to the likes of Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney the prior offseason, but they deepened positions of need.
Gutekunst focused on receivers at the draft, selecting Texas’s Matthew Golden and TCU’s Savion Williams. Heading into 2025, attention is shifting to the existing roster and where its young talent might be most primed to explode.
The Packers hired former Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley as their defensive coordinator, and he turned in a strong first season in 2024. The 46-year-old looks primed to eventually become an NFL head coach after leading Green Bay’s defense to a much-improved finish despite subpar seasons from key veteran players Kenny Clark, Rashan Gary, and Jaire Alexander.
Assuming that Alexander returns, moving up to the next level starts with getting more out of those leaders. The next step revolves around 2024 second-round pick Edgerrin Cooper, Hafley’s most exciting young chess piece. After taking the league by storm with a string of dominant, dynamic performances, Cooper took steps towards establishing himself as a household name.
In 2025, he may finish the job.
When asked what Year 2 may look like for the versatile linebacker, Hafley emphasized that Cooper needs to “become a more consistent player.” He talked about plays during which Cooper was responsible for a gap on one side of the formation, yet made the play on the other side.
That game-breaking ability is valuable (and intangible) to an extent. Now, Hafley said, “it’s lining up exactly where he needs to line up and doing it over and over and over again.”
While we are still in the voluntary portion of offseason workouts, it’s never too early for the trope of the athlete who arrives in the best shape of their life ahead of the new season. To that end, Hafley pointed out that “[Cooper] looks different. … He’s bigger now. … He knows what it’s going to take.”
Cooper turned in 77 tackles in his rookie year, including 13 for loss, 3.5 sacks, and an interception. His numbers ticked up noticeably down the stretch of the season, as is both a typical and encouraging sign for any first year.
Expect those numbers to soar in 2025.
Despite being selected a round later, Cooper looks like everything the Packers had hoped Quay Walker would be as a first-rounder. Walker remains the team’s middle linebacker and will continue to have the headset in his helmet as the on-field defensive play-caller. Still, Gutekunst and the front office declined the fifth-year option on his rookie contract.
While all indications are that Green Bay’s brass wants to pair Walker and Cooper for the long haul, Cooper’s full-on emergence and assignment perfection may give them the flexibility to move on and spend more on premium positions.
Green Bay’s defense has the opportunity to go from good to great, much like the team at large. A big part of that potential improvement will hopefully stem from a resurgence from their reliable veterans: Clark, Gary, and Alexander. The rest will have to come out of ascensions from their young talent: safeties Javon Bullard and Evan Williams, edge rusher Lukas Van Ness, defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt, Walker, and Edgerrin Cooper, most of all.
The Packers seem due for their next defensive household name. It’s a title that Clay Matthews held for so long. It looked like Alexander was poised to carry the mantle for a couple of years, but his prime near the top of the cornerback rankings may have been short-lived.
Cooper checks all of the boxes. He’s versatile, dynamic, and jumps off the tape as an absolute game-breaker. If anyone has the ceiling to propel Green Bay into the NFC’s top tier, it’s him.
