Two weeks after quietly signing with Texas A&M, Covington (La.) linebacker Edgerrin Cooper made his college choice publicly known during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Saturday. The announcement caps off an impressive late surge from A&M to land Cooper, who visited Aggieland in mid-December before making his choice.

Cooper was committed to Oklahoma for more than five months, from mid-June to late November 2019. He opened up the recruiting process again shortly after an offer from the Aggies, who quickly moved up the list of candidates for the 4-star recruit. The list of finalists was eventually narrowed down to Utah, in-state LSU and the Aggies, but his late official visit appears to have been the clincher when it came to getting Cooper to sign with A&M.

People talk all the time about players having "SEC Speed". Cooper has it. He flies all around the field and makes plays in every aspect of the game.

Rivals lists him as an inside linebacker, but I think he would clearly be an outside linebacker in A&M's system. They want guys who can go sideline to sideline, and Cooper has that ability.

I really like his anticipation. His first step isn't as explosive as fellow signee Antonio Doyle's, but he makes up for it with that excellent speed. He also seems to have that sixth sense that allows him to start running in the right direction before the back even makes their move.

That anticipation and field vision was evident in pass coverage. In that area, he's one of the better linebackers I've evaluated. He plays passes in the middle of the field almost like a safety, baiting passes and then breaking on the ball to make a play or pick off the pass. I was extremely impressed with that part of his game.

Cooper is listed between 200 and 210 pounds, so he'll have to do some growing in order to be ready to play at the next level. But if he puts on 15 pounds or so and keeps his speed, he has the ability to be dynamic. This guy has the speed to make plays all over the field, and that's what linebackers on elite teams do. With Cooper and Doyle joining the existing linebacker crop of Buddy Johnson, Anthony Hines, Aaron Hansford, Andre White, Chris Russell, Tarian Lee and Ke'Shun Brown, A&M is starting to develop deep depth at a position that has sorely needed it for more than a decade.