Chiefs' Steve Spagnuolo Wanted This DB in 2024 NFL Draft

Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator loves physical DBs like Cooper DeJean, wonders whether NIL-era college players wait to show physicality until reaching NFL

Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean (33) returns a punt against Kansas City Chiefs safety Nazeeh Johnson (13) during the second quarter in Super Bowl LIX at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

A lot of people were surprised when Cooper DeJean slid out of the first round in the 2024 NFL draft. Count Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo among them.

“Now him, I really liked,” Spagnuolo said this week, asked whether he studied DeJean’s Iowa film last year on the Anthony Gargano Show. “I really liked both those DBs, actually.”

Those DBs were DeJean and Toledo’s Quinyon Mitchell, and Spagnuolo wasn’t the only one who really liked them. Eagles general manager Howie Roseman nabbed Mitchell 22nd overall in the first round and traded up to take DeJean at No. 40 in Round 2.

“I was in there bribing Brett Veach to find a way to get those guys,” Spagnuolo told Gargano and co-host Brian Baldinger, noting he was hoping DeJean would slide to the Chiefs at 63 in the second round.

Six picks after Mitchell, Kansas City landed wide receiver Xavier Worthy, who played well down the stretch and in the playoffs. And apparently Spagnuolo’s instincts on DeJean were correct because the DB went 23 choices before the Chiefs’ second-round selection, Kingsley Suamataia at 63.

After struggling at left tackle, Suamataia is a candidate to play guard this season after Kansas City signed tackle Jaylon Moore and traded Joe Thuney to the Bears.

Oh, what might have been. Instead of DeJean starting opposite Trent McDuffie in Kansas City, he authored an outstanding rookie season with the Eagles and played a key role in the Super Bowl victory over the Chiefs. DeJean intercepted Patrick Mahomes and scored on a 38-yard return to blow the game wide open in the second quarter, giving Philadelphia a 17-0 advantage.

And while some teams envisioned DeJean as a slot defender in the NFL, Spagnuolo told Veach he had a different approach.

“I didn't pigeon hole him in that,” Spagnuolo replied. “I said, ‘Look, I would put this guy outside and let's see what we got.’ And if we need to put him inside, I knew he could play in there. I thought he was really smart and instinctive. But I had no problem saying that he was also an outside corner, by the way. What really struck me is how physical he plays in the middle of the field.”

That physical nature is becoming a rare trait at the college level, Spagnuolo said. As he evaluates cornerbacks and safeties in advance of the 2025 draft, he said DBs aren’t as willing to sacrifice their bodies to make tackles as they were prior to this new era in college athletics.

“And I love evaluating DBs and corners,” he said. “I do them all, linebackers, defensive line, but I really like the DBs. And there's a part of me that thinks sometimes we don't see the true physicality of some of these guys, because I think a lot of them don't want to get hurt before they have a chance to … you know what I'm saying?

“Now, maybe that's different with NIL, but sometimes, to me, it's hard to find. I want tough, physical DBs. I don't believe in cover corners, I don't. I don't believe in the block tackling. I don't want guys shying away from contact.”

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