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Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean.

In any other year, Iowa cornerback Cooper DeJean would have been a near-certain first-round pick in the NFL Draft.

It just so happened that 2024 was the year DeJean landed in the NFL draft.

Despite some projections seeing DeJean as a first-round pick after he was named a unanimous All-American and won the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year awards in 2023, he fell in the second round to the Philadelphia Eagles round (No. 40 overall).

Since then, the rich have only gotten richer for the Eagles, as DeJean has become a regular contributor as a rookie and looks like he could develop into a star alongside fellow cornerback and 2024 first-round pick Quinyon Mitchell.

33rd Team’s Jeff Diamond placed DeJean on his list of Biggest Steals from the 2024 NFL Draft on Nov. 27, with the Eagles going 9-2 and in first place in the NFC East.

“DeJean is the Eagles’ starting cornerback and contributed 30 tackles and five passes defensed to the team’s best defense,” Diamond wrote. “He was selected in the second round (No. 40 overall) as the fourth cornerback off the board. DeJean (along with first-round corner Quinyon Mitchell) is instrumental in the massive improvement of Philadelphia’s pass defense, which ranks third after falling to 31st last season when it was a major cause of the team’s collapse against “It was the end of the season.”

Record offensive run in the 2024 NFL Draft

DeJean’s second-round exit was a byproduct of a record-breaking run of offensive players in the 2024 draft. 23 NFL 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 projected DeJean as a surefire first-round pick in his pre-draft evaluation, even though he went in the second round and signed a 4-year, $9.28 million contract.

“DeJean is tall and stocky for a cornerback, with muscular arms and toned hips,” Zierlein wrote. “…He plays his best football looking forward, using his instincts to challenge quarterbacks and his big downhill burst to hit whatever it takes.”

When the Eagles selected Mitchell and DeJean with their first two picks, it marked the first time the franchise drafted players at the same position with their first two picks in a draft since 1986, when they took 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).

The Eagles’ hottest team in the NFL is on the way down

There’s no team in the NFL as fired up right now as the Eagles, who are on a seven-game winning streak heading into a star-studded road game against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 13.

The Eagles are currently the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs, just one game behind the Detroit Lions, and are on pace to win their seventh Super Bowl in the last eight seasons since winning the first Super Bowl in franchise history after 2017 have won to reach the postseason.

Tony Adame covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders and Denver Broncos. A veteran sportswriter and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame