Packers rookie is garnering rave reviews from a teammate he could ultimately replace

One of the areas the Green Bay Packers regularly set themselves apart is in their draft process. While many of their first-round picks have been hit-or-miss, they tend to hit more on their day-two and even day-three picks than most teams. It is why when promising rookies like Edgerrin Cooper are turning heads during practice, nobody bats an eye. Cooper is a second-round linebacker out of Texas A&M.

One player who has taken notice to him is linebacker Quay Walker, a guy the Packers drafted in the first round out of Georgia two years. While Cooper could conceivably take his job one day, odds are, both men are happy to have some healthy competition in the linebacker room to get better faster. As long as the Packers remain competitive on defense, they can push for a Super Bowl berth here soon.

Here is what Walker had to say about Cooper's talent over on the Packers' official team website.

"He's showing flashes, getting downhill, playing, flying around. I just tell him, 'Don't do no thinking, bro. Just fly around. If you mess up, it is what it is. You a rookie. Just take what you can learn … and go from there.'"

This is an important year for the Packers' competitive life cycle. They made it back into the playoffs a year ago in Jordan Love's first season as the starting quarterback. Although they still have him on a favorable contract for one more year, if he balls out, he will get paid handsomely. It is all about his growth and development, as well as guys in the linebacker room to take a leap over on the defense.

Right now, I have Green Bay on a shortlist of about four teams I think could realistically win the NFC.

Edgerrin Cooper is turning heads already at Green Bay Packers practice

While job security could conceivably come into question for a player like Walker, just ball out, man. That's all that really matters. Since he is a former first-round pick out of Georgia, he will be afforded the highly-coveted fifth-year option if he plays well this season. Having another promising linebacker like Cooper coming in and flying around can take some pressure off Walker and the rest of the room.

Although I really like the upside of many of the players on the team, I do wonder if Matt LaFleur is the type of coach to get the Packers over the top. Oh, don't get me wrong. I loved LaFleur when he was the Atlanta Falcons' quarterbacks coach on Kyle Shanahan's staff many years ago. It is a shame Atlanta did not promote him from within after Shanahan left for San Francisco, but I do wonder...

We are looking at a team trying to go from good to great. We know the Packers can be good under LaFleur, but have they ever been great? Aaron Rodgers won two NFL MVPs under his watch, but now he is entering his second season playing for the flightless New York Jets. For as much as I think guys like Cooper and Walker can make a sizable impact on defense, so much falls on Love and LaFleur.

The one thing I know is that when the Packers have a great defense, they can beat almost anyone.