Cooper DeJean Headed to Philadelphia

Eagles Select Iowa All-American in Friday's NFL Draft

Oct 21, 2023; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes defensive back Cooper DeJean (3) looks on during / Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

Now Cooper DeJean can go about proving franchises wrong for passing on him in Thursday's first round of the NFL Draft. The Iowa defensive back lasted until Friday's Round 2, selected by Philadelphia with the 40th overall selection. The Eagles traded up for the pick. 

DeJean was projected by most analysts to be safely in the first round. He visited Green Bay, and was linked to Detroit and others. 

Pick by pick went by Thursday without DeJean coming off of the board. Three cornerbacks did. No safeties were chosen. 

Opinions are split on DeJean's best position at the next level after he lined up at  both of them for the Hawkeyes. Perhaps not being a prototypical corner hurts his stock. 

It wasn't anything he did on the field. He was a unanimous consensus All-American this past season even though he missed four of Iowa's 14 games due to injury. He also authored the program's most well-known punt return. 

Surprisingly, UI last produced a first-round defensive back in 1997, when Arizona chose Tom Knight with the ninth overall selection. Craig Clemmons ('72) was the only other D-Back with that distinction in program history.

Despite that, DeJean became the ninth former Hawkeye secondary member on a current NFL roster. He also joined Bob Sanders and Josh Jackson as the lone Iowa defenses backs picked in the second round since Knight's selection. 

DeJean graduated from Odebolt (IA) OA-BCIG High as a member of the '21 Class. He was a prep football All-American and stood out in multiple sports. His basketball highlights have garnered a lot of attention since he began ascending on the college gridiron. 

He won the Iowa's Next Man In Award on special teams as a true freshman. As a second-year sophomore he returned a program-record three interceptions for touchdowns. He also emerged as a punt returner in the second half of the season. 

DeJean racked up 41 tackles (26 solo, 2.0 TFL)), picked off two passes, broke up five passes and returned 21 punts for 241 yards (11.5 YPR) with a score and a long return of 70 yards this past season. He was named the Big Ten's top defensive back and return man. 

After suffering a season-ending injury playing offense in practice last fall, DeJean didn't return to full health in time for the draft combine or Iowa's team pro day. NFL scouts attended his personal workout on campus earlier this month.

He shined, posting a 4.43-second, 40-yard dash, a 38.5-inch vertical jump and 10-4 in the broad jump. His combined testing numbers stood out.