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Greg Auman
NFC South Reporter
INDIANAPOLIS — One of the most intriguing, versatile athletes at the NFL combine will not run this weekend.
Iowa defensive back Cooper DeJean fractured the fibula in his left leg while practicing in November — while working on offense, no less — and while he’s been fully cleared three months after surgery, he won’t run at the combine, or at Iowa’s pro day, promising he’ll work out for teams at some point before the draft.
DeJean, 21, is a versatile player, having played outside cornerback at Iowa as well as their “Cash” position, a hybrid linebacker/slot corner role that takes advantage of his size and speed. DeJean is 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, had three pick-sixes in 2022 and a punt-return touchdown this past season, and has been projected everywhere from outside corner to slot to safety as a likely first-round draft pick.
“I’ve talked to a few teams about moving around, being able to play multiple different positions,” he said Thursday. “I think that’s an advantage coming into this league, being able to play wherever they put me … I’ll play anywhere. I just want to play ball.”
DeJean is from Odebolt, Ia., with a population of right around 1,000, and follows in a strong line of Iowa defensive backs now starring in the NFL — Buffalo’s Micah Hyde, Baltimore’s Geno Stone and Tennessee’s Amani Hooker, among others. Longtime Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker said what might help DeJean the most in the NFL isn’t as much his physical strengths as his mental approach and competitive nature.
“He’s very humble, and he has the mental capacity to be great, to try to be perfect, in his study and his understanding of the game,” Parker said. “He diagnoses things and processes things faster, and I always think it’s for all the different sports he played growing up. The way his brain thinks, he just sees things faster.”
DeJean is a man without a position, a player without a scheme, used…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/cooper-dejeans-very-rare-athleticism-versatility-make-him-a-top-draft-prospect
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Publish date : 2024-03-01 16:50:45
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