By and large, the consensus for the Pittsburgh Steelers is that they’ll take an offensive lineman at 20th overall in the upcoming NFL draft. However, Jason La Canfora earlier this week discussed the possibility of a corner for the Steelers in the first round. It does make a degree of sense. But what if the name is versatile DB Cooper DeJean?
That’s who deputy editor at NFL.com Gennaro Filice thinks the Steelers could take. Filice released the 2.0 version of his mock draft on Thursday, and he tabbed DeJean as the Steelers’ pick.
“I’m bullish on the versatile defensive back ultimately being a top-20 pick,” Filice wrote. “Absent through most of the pre-draft process due to a broken leg suffered in November, DeJean just put on an athletic show for scouts at his private workout. The playmaking extraordinaire – and prolific return man – is made for today’s NFL, with defenses valuing coverage versatility and ball skills at a premium.”
DeJean proved to be a defensive force for the Iowa Hawkeyes, a team that prides itself on defensive play. DeJean played in 30 career college games and had 120 total tackles, five for a loss, seven interceptions with three returned for touchdowns, and 13 passes knocked down.
As Filice noted, DeJean’s 2023 college season was cut thanks to a broken leg sustained in practice. He played in 10 games but still recorded two interceptions and five pass breakups. Despite being unable to participate in testing and drills until very recently, DeJean still went to the NFL Combine to meet with teams. One of the teams he met with formally at the Combine was the Steelers.
Steeler Depot’s Jonathan Heitritter spent time breaking down DeJean’s tape this offseason. Heitritter was impressed with his positional versatility in the secondary.
Cooper DeJean is a talented athlete who has shown versatility to play multiple positions in the secondary. He projects well as an outside cornerback at the next level given his size and athletic profile, but his short area quickness to cover quicker receivers at the top of routes as well as his recognition on spacing of the deep ball need to improve to be more consistent against NFL receivers at the next level. His skill set translates well to a big nickel that can cover tight ends as well as a safety that can use his instincts to make plays in off-coverage, but an NFL team will likely try him out as an outside corner first before making the decision to move him inside to the backend…
The Steelers could use help at various places in the secondary, needing a long-term starter opposite of Joey Porter Jr. on the outside as well as a capable slot defender. DeJean can do both as a guy Pittsburgh could target in the first round should he be healthy, drafting him to contribute quickly in sub packages either on the outside or in the nickel while also having the skill set to be the team’s punt returner from Day One.
The question is, will the Steelers value DeJean’s athleticism and playmaking ability over addressing the offensive line in the first round? La Canfora thinks that the Steelers wouldn’t be above taking a corner there.
As for Filice’s mock draft, Georgia OT Amarius Mims went two spots ahead of the Steelers to the Cincinnati Bengals. In fact, Mims was part of four offensive tackles taken in five picks, starting with Taliese Fuaga at 14th overall to the New Orleans Saints. So if a number of tackles go off the board ahead of 20 on draft night, maybe the Steelers would want to add a corner who has shown a knack for making plays on the ball?
Oh, and Cooper DeJean can handle punt returns as Heitritter said. He returned 31 punts for 406 yards and a touchdown in his college career-not bad numbers at all.
