Cooper DeJean lasted until the 40th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. Less than a year later, he returned a Super Bowl interception for a touchdown. Asked to name the best Day 2 or Day 3 prospect who should have gone in the first round, PFSN’s Football Debate Club gave two answers. CBS Sports’ Mike Renner named DeJean. The Ringer’s Austin Gayle named a class.
Cooper DeJean Has Put On A Show In the NFL
Renner did not hesitate. “He’s played like that guy since day one,” he said of DeJean. “He has been what you would expect from a first-round corner.”
The fall was always about scheme, not talent. At Iowa, DeJean played a system heavy on zone that limited his reps in man coverage, which spooked evaluators even though the tape was clean. The Eagles did not blink. They traded up 10 spots in the second round to take him 40th, and Renner’s read was simple. “He’s been a first-rounder since day one.”
The proof came fast. A hamstring injury cost DeJean the first month of his rookie season, but once he took over the slot in Week 6, he became a fixture in the defense that carried Philadelphia to a title. Then came Super Bowl LIX, where DeJean picked off Patrick Mahomes and took it back for a touchdown on his 22nd birthday, staking the Eagles to a 17-0 lead in a 40-22 win. In year two, he made first-team All-Pro. A second-round pick is now one of the best defensive backs in the league.
The 2024 Secondary Was a Day 2 Gold Mine
Gayle did not pick a single name. He picked a pattern. “I do feel like there was a ton of value in the secondary, and these teams that double-dipped are benefiting in a big way,” he said.
His headliner was Houston. The Texans, who had no first-round pick, took cornerback Kamari Lassiter 42nd and safety Calen Bullock 78th. “Those are starters,” Gayle said, and he undersold it. Bullock made the PFWA All-Rookie team and led all rookies with 5 interceptions, and both he and Lassiter earned Pro Bowl nods after the 2025 season.
The Chargers found two more starters in the fifth round, Tarheeb Still at 137 and Cam Hart at 140. “Even the Eagles,” Gayle added. “Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean. They figured it out.”
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That last pairing is the point. Philadelphia spent its first-round pick on Mitchell at 22, then traded up for DeJean at 40, and walked away with two starting corners from one draft. Host Cam Mellor scored the round for Gayle.
The debate split on scope, not substance. Renner found the one prospect the league most clearly misjudged. Gayle found the position group it misjudged in bulk. Both arrows point at the same target. The best value in the 2024 draft was hiding in the secondary, where a Super Bowl hero, a pair of Pro Bowl Texans and a fifth-round Chargers tandem all slid past where they belonged. The board was wrong. The tape was not.
