The Iowa Hawkeyes have a truly special talent on the outside this year for the defense and secondary. Cornerback Cooper DeJean is arguably one of the most talented defensive backs we have seen come through Iowa among a long list of supremely talented defensive players.
The preseason accolades are nothing new for DeJean right now as they are piling up ahead of his highly anticipated season. Picked as the preseason Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, DeJean knows the bar is high.
He was also named to the Bronko Nagurski Watch List, an award given out annually to the best defensive player in all of college football, and the Paul Hornung Watch List, an award given out annually to the nation’s most versatile player in major college football.
DeJean isn’t just finding himself regarded as one of the Big Ten’s best players, but nationally one of the best players. Pro Football Focus released their top 50 college football players for this season and ranked Cooper DeJean No. 23.
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DeJean finished third on the Hawkeyes last season with 75 tackles, lead them in interceptions with five, and returned three of those picks for touchdowns. The 6-foot-1, 207 pound defensive back also returned 10 punts for 165 yards over the course of the 2022 season.
Slightly ahead of DeJean, at No. 21, sits Michigan Wolverines‘ cornerback Will Johnson. The two of them are very highly touted and each has the potential to go in the first round of the NFL draft next year.
Other names of note in the No. 21-30 rankings include Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison (No. 30), Alabama offensive lineman JC Latham (No. 28), Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner (No. 26), and USC safety Calen Bullock (No. 24).
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