Texas A&M Football: Breaking Down Edgerrin Cooper vs South Carolina

Examining One of the Most Dominant Defenders for Texas A&M Football

It’s no secret that LB Edgerrin Cooper has been playing at an extremely high level for Texas A&M football. Coop was recently named a midseason all-American, and his outstanding play against the South Carolina Gamecocks had him named the SEC Defender of the Week this past week.

Coop has been playing out of his mind this season. He’s starting to blossom into what we all hoped when he signed on the dotted line with Texas A&M football back in early 2020: an absolute heat-seeking missile at the linebacker position. He can both play sideline to sideline with his athleticism and utilize his strength to fill gaps and thump opposing running backs.

Cooper once again lit it up this past Saturday, recording the following statline:

• 7 tackles
• 1.5 TFL
• 0.5 sacks
• 1 PBU
• 4 QB Hurries
• 1 Forced Fumble

That’s stuffing the stat sheet!

There are three plays that really stick out to me when I think about Cooper’s performance against the Gamecocks. One is a play that I already mentioned briefly in a previous article, where Cooper breaks through three blockers to singlehandedly stop a screen pass that looked like it had a chance to come close to converting on a very long third down. The recognition to be in the right spot, the elusiveness to evade three blockers, and the strength to take down a running back with basically just one hand are all outstanding—and, as draft guru Dane Brugler mentioned, exactly the kind of play that gets you moving up draft boards.

The second was the forced fumble. You can see that one below:

Again: recognition, evasion, speed, strength. It’s all on display here, and as I’m sure you’re gleaning from the names of these accounts abuzz about Coop, the linebacker for Texas A&M football is starting to catch the attention of those in the league.

The final play was just a display of pure physical dominance. Carolina RB Mario Anderson is a load to bring down, and broke several Aggie tackles on more than one occasion on Saturday. Early in the game, though, Coop set the tone for the day with a huge hit. Check it out below:

We’ve seen flashes of stuff like this—I think specifically of a huge hit on Jarquez Hunter in the 2021 Auburn game—but Coop putting together these hits with the little stuff that he needs to do down in and down out has me excited about his potential as a draft riser. Texas A&M football will certainly need him in the upcoming weeks, too, as the Ags will face some great offenses here down the stretch. As long as he’s in the game, though, I like the chances for this Aggie defense.