Four Packers Make Midseason All-Rookie Teams

Second-round pick Edgerrin Cooper has been the rookie standout for the Green Bay Packers.

Green Bay Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper / Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – There’s a long way to go, but with the NFL season officially at its midpoint, Green Bay Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper is having an All-Rookie-caliber season.

In fact, Cooper is a consensus selection in some midseason all-rookie teams.

“Obviously, he had a little bit of a setback in training camp, which always for a young player is tough when you miss that much time on the field,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said on Tuesday.

“But just like he was in college, when you put him on the field, he makes dynamic plays. He’s still working through some of the details and intricacies of our defense but, when he’s out there, you feel him. He certainly brings an element of speed on that field and he’s a natural playmaker. Excited for him, where he can go. I think there’s a lot of really good football ahead of him.”

Gutekunst used his second-round picks on Cooper and safety Javon Bullard and a fourth-round pick on safety Evan Williams. All three players have been instrumental in Green Bay’s defensive improvement.

While playing a part-time role, Cooper is fifth on the team with 40 tackles. He’s made a bunch of impact plays with 2.5 sacks, five tackles for losses, two passes defensed and one forced fumble. His eight tackles, including a sack-strip, went a long way toward Green Bay beating Jacksonville.

Williams, despite not playing on defense in Week 1 and missing the last game-and-a-half with a hamstring injury, has 27 tackles, three passes defensed and one forced fumble. He had 10 tackles vs. Minnesota and nine vs. Houston.

Bullard is third on the team with 47 tackles while showing a ton of versatility by playing safety and nickel. Only Giants safety Tyler Nubin has more tackles among rookie defenders, regardless of position.

For his all-rookie team, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler picked only one player at each position (with a runner-up and some honorable mentions). He selected Cooper and Williams.

Brugler thought Cooper could be the Packers’ best linebacker by the end of the season.

“His diverse production is an accurate reflection of the ways he can impact the game,” Brugler wrote.

Brugler recently pivoted from Bullard to Williams at safety.

“The more Packers tape I watched, the more evident it was that Williams has been the more consistent and impactful Green Bay safety. He missed last week’s game against Detroit, and his absence was obvious.”

At Fox Sports, Greg Auman selected Cooper as one of two linebackers and Bullard as one of two safeties.

“There's a bunch of rookies to consider [at safety],” he wrote, “and you're torn between splash plays like the Rams have gotten from (Jaylen) McCollough and overall impact without takeaways. Bullard has been all over the back end for Green Bay, on pace for 96 tackles”

The Ringer’s Diante Lee chose Cooper and the Steelers’ Payton Wilson as his linebackers.

In part, Lee wrote: “You can still see the direct connection between their unrefined feel for the pro game and their lack of production as run defenders. Wilson is a phenomenal athlete and proved as much at the NFL Scouting Combine, but he hasn’t shown he’s able to consistently play with the physicality and pace that are necessary at this level. Cooper has had similar challenges in Green Bay, but I’d argue that the Packers have been able to work around some of his limitations by lining him up on the edge or sending him as a blitzer.”

The 33rd Team’s James Foster picked Cooper and Williams.

Foster hit on Cooper’s startling pass breakup against the Jaguars – a reason why he was the NFC Defensive Player of the Week – and noted his “rare closing burst” in which “no pursuit angle is unwinnable.”

Of Williams, he wrote in part: “Williams played more than 2800 snaps in college, and his experience has led him to early success in a hybrid role. He can shed blocks and fit the run from the box, play man coverage on receivers and tight ends, or defend shot plays as a single-high safety.”

CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso picked three Packers with Cooper, Williams and first-round pick Jordan Morgan, who made his first career start against Detroit.

“You don't always have to play spectacularly to make this team, just don't be a liability – especially up front – and that's how I'd characterize the start for Morgan with the Packers,” Trapasso wrote.

Williams, who Trapasso called a “Swiss Army Knife,” has paired with Xavier McKinney to become “arguably” the best safety tandem in the NFL.

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