In any other year, Iowa cornerback Cooper DeJean would have been almost a lock to be a first round pick in the NFL draft.
It just so happened 2024 was the year DeJean wound up in the NFL draft.
Despite some projections that saw DeJean as a first round pick after being named a unanimous All-American and sweeping the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year awards in 2023, he dropped to the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round (No. 40 overall).
Since then, it’s just been a case of the rich getting richer for the Eagles as DeJean has turned into a steady contributor as a rookie who looks like he could develop into a star alongside fellow cornerback and 2024 first round pick Quinyon Mitchell.
The 33rd Team’s Jeff Diamond put DeJean on his list of the “Biggest Steals” from the 2024 NFL draft on November 27, with the Eagles at 9-2 and in first place in the NFC East.
“DeJean is the Eagles’ starting nickel corner and has contributed 30 tackles and five passes defensed to the team’s top-ranked defense,” Diamond wrote. “He was picked in the second round (No. 40 overall) as the fourth cornerback off the board. DeJean is one of the big contributors (along with first-round corner Quinyon Mitchell) to the massive improvement in Philadelphia’s pass defense that is ranked third after falling to 31st last season when they were a major cause of the team’s late-season collapse.”
Record Run on Offense in 2024 NFL Draft
DeJean dropping to the second round was a byproduct of a record-setting run on offensive players in the 2024 draft. An NFL record 23 offensive players were taken in the first round, including a record number of quarterbacks (6) and wide receivers (7).
NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein had DeJean projected as a surefire first round pick in his pre-draft evaluation even though he wound up going in the second round and signing a 4-year, $9.28 million contract.
“DeJean is big and bundled for a cornerback, with muscular arms and tight hips,” Zierlein wrote. “… His best football is played with his eyes forward, using his instincts to challenge quarterbacks and his big downhill burst to smack whatever needs smacking.”
When the Eagles selected Mitchell and DeJean with their first 2 picks, it was the first time the franchise drafted players at the same position with their first 2 picks in a draft since 1986, when they selected Ohio State running back Keith Byars in the first round (No. 10 overall) and Texas A&M’s Anthony Toney in the second round (No. 37 overall).
Eagles Hottest Team in NFL Headed Down Stretch
There’s not a team on more of a heater in the NFL right now than the Eagles, who are on a 7-game winning streak headed into a high profile Week 13 road game against the Baltimore Ravens.
The Eagles are currently have the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs just one game behind the Detroit Lions and are on track to make the postseason for the seventh time in the last 8 seasons since winning the first Super Bowl in franchise history following the 2017 season.
