The run of good news for the 2024 Iowa Football team came to an end Thursday.
All-American defensive back and punt returner Cooper DeJean announced he was declaring for the NFL Draft.
The consensus among prognosticators is that DeJean will be a first-round pick in April’s draft. The Odebolt, Iowa native leaves the Hawkeyes after three seasons.
DeJean earned unanimous consensus All-American honors this past fall despite missing the team’s final four games with a lower-body injury suffered in practice.
He was named the Big Ten’s defensive back and return specialist of the year as well.
As a junior, DeJean recorded 41 tackles (26 solo, 2.0 for loss), two interceptions and five pass break-ups on defense.
He returned 21 punts for 241 yards (11.5 yards per return avg., long of 70 yards) with one touchdown.
There also was a controversial scoring return called back against Minnesota.
DeJean picked off five passes as a sophomore. He returned three of them for touchdowns, an Iowa record for a season.
The Hawkeyes had been receiving good news for their outlook next fall. Starters Jay Higgins, Luke Lachey, Jermari Harris and Nick DeJong announced recently that they’d be back in ’24.
Iowa still is waiting on decisions from first-teamers Nick Jackson, Quinn Schulte and Sebastian Castro. The team is currently over the scholarship limit.
The Athletic NFL Draft analyst Dane Brugler ranks DeJean as the No. 17 player overall in this year’s draft. He’s No. 13 on the most recent list of ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.
According to Spotrac, the No. 13 pick in this year’s draft is projected to sign a deal worth $17.5M with a $9.7M signing bonus.
Those numbers drop to $15.2M and $8.0M for the 17th selection.
