Cooper DeJean, DB Iowa: 2024 NFL Draft Profile

DeJean was a four-star athlete recruit from OABCIG High School in Ida Grove, Iowa. in the class of 2021

Iowa cornerback Cooper DeJean was a turnover machine in 2022, but his best long-term fit might be at safety. DeJean is a scheme-specific prospect who could crack the top 100 in the 2024 NFL Draft as a defensive chess piece.

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Cooper DeJean, CB Iowa: 2024 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Junior outside cornerback from Odebolt, Iowa

Background: DeJean was a four-star athlete recruit from OABCIG High School in Ida Grove, Iowa. in the class of 2021. He was the No. 359 recruit according to 247Sports (four-star) and No. 304 for On3.com (four-star). DeJean was an unranked three-star recruit for Rivals and an unranked three-star recruit for ESPN with a 75 grade out of 100. He lettered four years in high school as a quarterback and defensive back. OABCIG went 25-0 in his final two seasons and finished with a 38-6 record over his career. DeJean led his team to back-to-back state championships as a junior and senior. He holds numerous school records, including pass completions and passing yards in a season, career passing yards and passing touchdowns, receptions in a game, receptions and receiving yards in a season, career touchdown receptions, and total yards in a season. As a high school senior, DeJean completed 199 of 331 pass attempts for 3,447 yards, 35 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He also ran for 1,235 yards and 24 touchdowns on 131 carries and contributed 53.5 tackles and three interceptions on defense. DeJean earned Des Moines Register Elite All-State, First Team All-State, and First Team All-District honors as a senior. As a junior, he completed 236 of 396 pass attempts for 3,546 yards, 42 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions. He also ran for 1,292 yards and 24 touchdowns on 134 carries and totaled 34 tackles and five interceptions. DeJean received First Team All-State, First Team All-District, and district MVP honors for his efforts. He received First Team All-State and First Team All-District honors as a sophomore for making 66 receptions for 1,023 yards and 12 touchdowns. DeJean was a team captain as sophomore, junior and senior. He earned three varsity letters in baseball, basketball, and track. DeJean was the Class 2A long jump (23-7.5) and 100-meter dash (11.16) state champion as a senior and finished second in the 200-meter dash (22.12). He also ran a leg on the 400-meter relay state championship unit. DeJean was born on February 9, 2003.

Injuries & Off-Field: Exited game early versus Nebraska (2022)

Awards: 2022 First Team All-Big Ten (Media), 2022 Second Team All-Big Ten (Coaches), 2022-23 Music City Bowl Most Valuable Player

Pros: Special teams experience on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units, returned punts in 2022, special teams ace with more than half a dozen tackles in 2022, gained slot experience early in 2022, ball production, ball tracking, three pick-sixes in 2022, reads the quarterback’s eyes to jump routes, closes quickly on short routes, physical tackler against receivers, compresses outside releases along the sideline, natural feel for threats in zone coverage, sorts through multiple threats entering his zone, willing run defender, carries the weight to be an impact run defender, crashes down the back of the offensive line to snuff out run plays, physicality to defeat blocks

Cons: Arm length appears average to slightly below average, backpedal is high, hip tightness hinders transitions, challenged by sudden changes of direction, struggles to get his hips around at the top of the stem to stay attached, not a mirror and match corner, short-area agility is a step slow, movements are more rounded than sharp or sudden, ineffective in press coverage, punches are inaccurate in press, doesn’t get his head around to locate the ball when carrying a receiver vertically from a press alignment, gives a step to the receiver when aligned near the LOS, top speed might be lacking to cover burners, slow accelerator, receivers blow past him in off-man coverage, stacked vertically by Julian Fleming (2022), beaten deep by Charlie Jones (2022), allows too much separation on deep crossers, heavy focus on the QB sometimes leads to him losing focus on the WR, unable to disengage from blocking tight ends, block shedding technique is still developmental, dives low and misses tackles

Overview: DeJean is a special teams ace who recorded more than half a dozen tackles in 2022 while taking snaps on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units. He gained some experience as a punt returner in 2022. DeJean opened his sophomore season primarily playing in the slot, but he kicked outside to replace the injured Terry Roberts. DeJean primarily lined up on the left side of Iowa’s defense, regardless of if it was the field or boundary side. He spends the vast majority of his time in deep to intermediate zone coverage. The junior had excellent ball production in 2022, intercepting five passes and returning three for touchdowns. His ball tracking is impressive. DeJean prefers to let the action unfold in front of him and appears uncomfortable turning his back to the quarterback. He reads the quarterback’s eyes to jump routes. DeJean is quick to close on short routes and is a physical tackler against receivers. He compresses outside releases along the sideline when playing man coverage. The Iowa native has a natural feel for threats in zone coverage and sorts through multiple threats. He’s a willing run defender with the weight and physicality to defeat blocks. DeJean’s arm length appears average to slightly below average. His backpedal is high. The All-Big Ten corner suffers from hip tightness that hinders his transitions. Sudden changes of direction challenge his movement skills and agility. DeJean struggles to get his hips around at the top of the stem to stay attached to receivers. His tightness and limited short-area agility prevent him from being a mirror and match corner. DeJean’s movements are more rounded than sharp or sudden. He is ineffective in press coverage and doesn’t get his head around to locate the ball when carrying a receiver vertically from a press alignment. DeJean consistently gives a step to the receiver when aligned near the line of scrimmage. He lost vertically to Julian Fleming and Charlie Jones in 2022, suggesting his acceleration and top speed aren’t ideal. DeJean’s heavy focus on the quarterback sometimes leads to him losing focus on the wide receiver and allowing separation. He is unable to disengage from blocking tight ends and is still developing his block shedding technique.

Overall, DeJean’s lack of coverage versatility and inexperience as a mirror and match corner make him a scheme-specific fit at the next level who still requires significant technical development. DeJean is still a year away from clearly defining who he is as a prospect.

Role & Scheme Fit: Field corner in a zone-dominant scheme or two-high safety

Round Projection: Third Round

Size: 6'1", 209 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 05-12-23