Packers help secondary by selecting Iowa’s Cooper DeJean in NFL.com mock draft

The Green Bay Packers bolstered their secondary depth in Eric Edholm’s first mock draft over at NFL.com, taking Iowa cornerback Cooper DeJean.

DeJean measures in at 6-1 and 207 pounds. In the last two seasons, he has played over 1,500 defensive snaps for the Hawkeyes, the bulk of which have come as a boundary cornerback.

In the most recent 2023 season, DeJean held pass catchers to just 20 completions on 46 targets (43.5%) and only 9.7 yards per catch. He also came away with four pass breakups and two interceptions.

The 2022 season for DeJean was impressive as well, holding opponents to a completion rate of 51.4 percent and 11.4 yards per catch while recording five interceptions and five pass breakups.

Along with his coverage abilities, DeJean has proven to be a consistent tackler, missing only eight of his 117 total attempts over the last two seasons. Also important to the Packers, DeJean has 439 career special teams snaps, including 31 punt return attempts at an impressive 13.1 yards per attempt.

For a closer look at DeJean and what he can bring to Green Bay, Packers Wire’s own Brennen Rupp had this to say:

“Cooper DeJean was a four-sport athlete in high school and a state champion sprinter,” said Rupp. “He has great field awareness and plays the ball like a wide receiver. He’s a willing participate in run support.

“He has the versatility to wear multiple hats in Jeff Hafley’s defense. While he’d probably be at his best playing safety and patrolling the middle of the field with his range, he also has the short-area quickness to man the slot.

“On top of everything he brings to the defensive side of the ball, he’s a dynamic punt returner. With his knack for making big plays and versatility, DeJean is everything that this secondary is missing right now.”

Addressing the cornerback position, or even the secondary in general is going to be a big need for Brian Gutekunst this offseason. From a depth perspective, the only cornerbacks under contract right now are Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes, Carrington Valentine Anthony Johnson, and Zyon Gilbert.

Then at safety, the Packers only have Anthony Johnson Jr., Benny Sapp and Zayne Anderson. Overall, the Packers defensive backfield struggled to make plays on the ball last season, with no member of the secondary ranking in the top half of the league in forced incompletions while the Packers defense as a group came away with the second-fewest interceptions in football with seven.

“I think the back end is probably where we weren’t as consistent as we needed to be,” said Gutekunst on Thursday, “and I’d like that to be shored up. There will probably be some moving pieces there going into next year, but it’s kind of like it always is, I want a fast physical, aggressive defense that plays sound.

“And again, I thought there were some really, really good moments, particularly late where we were playing some very good football teams and they played very well. But the consistency is what I always look for.”

As Rupp mentions, DeJean isn’t going to be only an option on the boundary. With new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley running a heavy dose of cover-1 while at Boston College, DeJean could be the rangy centerfield-like safety that the Packers need if Hafley’s plan is to continue using single-high safety looks somewhat often.

With Keisean Nixon a free agent and current makeup of the cornerback room for Green Bay, the Packers don’t have an obvious slot cornerback on the roster either, which again, is another role DeJean could fill, especially with how sound of a tackler he has been.

The Packers hold the 25th overall pick in the first round and five total selections in the top 100. It’s very possible that two of those first handful of picks could go towards the secondary.