• More snaps have coincided with good play from the rookie DeJean: Since becoming a regular on the Eagles’ defense, DeJean has averaged 52 defensive snaps per game and has only once earned a PFF game grade below 70.6 and a coverage grade below 68.8.
• DeJean remains on the right track despite a rougher Week 11 showing: While he put up a season-low 53.5 PFF overall grade and 52.1 PFF coverage grade against the Commanders, his season-long numbers are still strong.
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Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes
One of the 2024 NFL Draft's unparalleled prospects is now one of the league's most intriguing rookies through Week 11.
Cooper DeJean was considered a top cornerback out of Iowa, the best player on an elite defense that won 10 games despite its offense’s 15.4 points per game ranking 132nd out of 133 FBS teams. The elite athlete took snaps in many roles, including cornerback, punt returner and even on offense.
Cooper DeJean's College PFF Grades
The injury bug pushed DeJean down draft boards, though, and he fell to the Philadelphia Eagles with the 40th overall selection despite being rated as the eighth-best player on the PFF Big Board. What made the selection even more interesting is that the Eagles had taken a cornerback 18 picks earlier in Toledo’s Quinyon Mitchell.
A hamstring injury suffered in training camp limited DeJean's preseason availability and may have contributed to his playing eight defensive snaps across his first four NFL games, including none in the Eagles' Week 3 win over the Saints. DeJean contributed primarily on special teams during that time, often as a punt returner with moderate success. He returned 12 punts for 147 yards (12.3-yard average) and a 71.8 PFF return grade.
DeJean finally received significant playing time in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns following Philadelphia's Week 5 bye and has not looked back.
Since becoming a regular on the Eagles’ defense, DeJean has averaged 52 defensive snaps per game and has only once earned a PFF game grade below 70.6 and a coverage grade below 68.8. His best outing was in Week 7 against the Giants, against whom he recorded an 86.3 PFF game grade, powered by an 87.4 PFF coverage grade.
Cooper DeJean's PFF Game Grades in 2024
From Weeks 6-11, only fellow second-round rookie cornerbacks Renardo Green and Kamari Lassiter have earned higher coverage grades than DeJean (79.4). DeJean, despite a down performance against the Washington Commanders on Thursday Night Football in Week 11, hasn’t allowed a touchdown and ranks tied for fourth in the league in coverage stops (11).
Heading into that game against the Commanders, DeJean boasted an 83.7 season-long PFF grade and an 85.9 PFF coverage grade, ranking fourth and first, respectively, among NFL cornerbacks.
Thursday Night Football wasn’t as kind to DeJean, as he put up a season-low 53.5 PFF overall grade and 52.1 PFF coverage grade, allowing eight catches for 53 yards and three first downs. He did play a career-high 66 defensive snaps, but the weaker performance damaged his still-strong season-long grades — 77.2 overall and 78.9 in coverage.
Regardless, the Eagles have finally unleashed DeJean to create a young cornerback duo between him and Mitchell that should give defenses fits for years to come — a positive development in a division featuring Dak Prescott, Jayden Daniels and whomever the Giants find to replace Daniel Jones.
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