Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper was carted off the field against the Buccaneers on Sunday and ruled out with an Achilles injury.
Cooper had been Green Bay's busiest defender before the cart came. His line: 9 total tackles, 4 solo, a sack, a pass defensed, a quarterback hit and an 18-yard interception. In IDP formats that's a week-winning stat line, and it's gone.
Zaire Franklin is the add. He finished with 8 tackles, same as Javon Bullard, and Franklin is the linebacker already on the field for the snaps Cooper leaves behind. Evan Williams posted 7 tackles, a sack and an interception of his own, but Williams is a safety. His tackle volume runs through a different part of the defense and won't absorb Cooper's.
This isn't a situation to wait out. Cooper's tackle share has to land somewhere, and the Packers aren't going to spread 9 tackles a game across three bodies. Franklin gets first crack at it.
My call, on the record: Franklin is a top-15 IDP linebacker the rest of the way if Cooper misses time, and he should be rostered in every league with a defensive slot before waivers process.
