Cooooopppp! Happy Birthday, Cooper DeJean!
As one of the best defensive backs to ever do it for the Iowa Hawkeyes turns another year older, his next year will look a lot different. After an electric career with the Hawkeyes, DeJean is off to the NFL.
His spot in the 2024 NFL draft is trending toward when he gets drafted in the first round and not if he gets drafted in the first round as his stock seems to be rising.
During his time with the Hawkeyes, DeJean constantly turned heads. He did it all, whether it was on defense, punt returning, or downing punts. He totaled 120 tackles, 20 pass breakups and 7 interceptions of which three he returned for touchdowns.
On special teams, DeJean averaged 13.1 yards per punt return and had one punt return touchdown. He was also known for his ability to understand where he was on the field and be a weapon downing Tory Taylor’s punts deep in opponents’ territory.
DeJean was a two-time First-Team All-Big Ten selection (2022, 2023), the 2023 Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year, the 2023 Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year, and a 2023 Unanimous All-American.
As Cooper DeJean celebrates his birthday and gets ready for the NFL, here is a look at his career with the Iowa Hawkeyes.