ESPN Analyst: Packers Second Year Player Tops ‘Names to Know’ Entering 2025 NFL Season

The Green Bay Packers are loaded with young talent across the roster with names like Jordan Love, Tucker Kraft, and Jayden Reed on the roster.

Yet, one ESPN analyst recently gave his stamp of approval for one Packers second-year player becoming a household name by the end of the 2025 NFL season.

Edgerrin Cooper Listed as a ‘Name to Know’ Entering 2025 NFL Season

Whether you are a casual NFL fan or a fantasy football junkie, most people love getting an idea of which players could be future superstars in the league before their friends do.

Recently, ESPN NFL Analyst Benjamin Solak pinpointed 10 names to know entering the 2025 NFL season. Fortunately for Green Bay fans, it was second year LB Edgerrin Cooper who topped that list.

Solak wrote, “The lightbulb went on for Cooper last year, as he rose from sub-package player to 100% snap starter by season’s end. From December on, I’m not sure there were five more impactful linebackers in all of football.”

The Packers have spent plenty of draft capital addressing the LB position in recent years with players like Quay Walker and Ty’Ron Hopper, but Solak believes Cooper is the player destined for big things.

Solak added, “Cooper is highly active against the run and a reliable tackler in space. He has the size and athletic ability to be a solid coverage man. After he got one All-Pro vote last season, I’d wager Cooper gets double-digit votes in 2025.”

Cooper’s final stat line from his rookie year was 77 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and one interception — which becomes that much more impressive when you realize he never played than 50 snaps in a game until Week 11.

Additionally, Cooper missed three games last year due to a hamstring injury. This slow start and missed time on the field likely kept him off of the ‘future star’ radar for many football fans.

Cooper won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month award for December/January last season, which is evidence that the first year player was starting to turn the corner at the end of the year.

Cooper is only 23 years old and is expected to be a full-time contributor for an ascending Packers defense entering the 2025 NFL season.

What Will the Packers LB Room Look Like in 2025?

The Green Bay Packers have an interesting collection of linebackers on the roster entering the upcoming season.

Quay Walker has registered a minimum of 100+ total tackles and 1.5 sacks in all three seasons of his young NFL career, but had his fifth year option declined by the organization earlier this year.

Hopper is entering his second year in the league, but could have to compete with the aforementioned Walker and newly re-signed LB Isaiah McDuffie for playing time.

The likely scenario entering the season is Walker and Cooper are the two full-time starting linebackers while Hooper and McDuffie are available for rotation and to combat certain offensive personnel packages.

Ultimately, the Packers have a nice collection of young talent at the linebacker position — which should give Green Bay defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley a ton of flexibility to create blitz packages to terrorize opposing offenses.