22 Players in 22 Days: #7 Edgerrin Cooper

Position: Linebacker
Classification: Sophomore
Hometown: Covington, LA
Listed Height: 6’3”
Listed Weight: 225 lbs.

Key notes on Olin’s thoughts on Cooper

• The hog hunter Edgerrin Cooper. He likes to hunt. He can hunt down those running backs too.
   
•  I don’t know how many games he started. He was kind of a backup. He had 58 tackles, and on the surface, that doesn’t sound like a whole lot. In the scheme they play, Tyrel Dodson had about 80, and Otaro Alaka the same. They don’t put up a lot of numbers as a linebacker.
   
• Cooper has great speed and is very physical. He has the explosive tackle when he hits you, and he will knock you backward. Cooper is that guy that can end the play at contact, but he’s knocking the guy backward. He’s pretty good at pass defense.
   
• It will be a breakout year for Cooper. He’s the guy this year. Von Miller moved around, but if you qualify him as a linebacker, I’ll put this out there and you can quote me in December: Edgerrin Cooper will be A&M’s best linebacker since Von Miller.
   
• I had a guy from Florida call me, and he was doing a piece on A&M in 2020. He wanted to know the best defensive player, and I said it was DeMarvin Leal. He didn’t know who Leal was. There are a lot of people who don’t know who Cooper is. People will know who he is this year.
   
• He’s going to get better. He’s probably bigger, and he’s still fast. He understands playing linebacker at this level. My only concern is targeting. When he tackles you, he knocks the guys backward. Cooper has to be careful with that. He is bringing the lumber. Officials are always looking for a reason to take the physicality out of football.