Eagles Top 25 Best Players Countdown: Versatile Rookie CB Lands At No. 24

Eagles' rookie Cooper DeJean is the only rookie to make the 25, despite being selected 18 spots after first-round pick Quinyon Mitchell. The difference is the path to playing time.

Eagles rookie defensive back Cooper DeJean / John McMullen/Eagles SI

PHILADELPHIA - It’s tough to make the list of top 25 players for any NFL team as a rookie.

The Eagles' Cooper DeJean has done exactly that, finishing at No. 24 after a strong spring in which the Iowa product showed signs that he can handle both inside and outside work in Vic Fangio’s defensive scheme.

The list has become an annual affair in which SI.com’s Eagles beat reporters Ed Kracz and John McMullen submit their top-25 lists at the same time so each would be unaffected by the others.

No. 1 on the list is awarded 25 points and so one down the list with No. 25 receiving one point.

One player will be revealed each day as we count down until Eagles training camp with players set to report on July 23.

Ironically, Eagles’ first-round pick Quinyon Mitchell did not make the list with Kracz putting him at No. 23 on his list. McMullen had neither rookie on his list, taking a more wait-and-see approach.

DeJean was No. 21, ahead of Mitchell at No. 23 on Kracz’s list and his five points to Mitchell’s three was good enough to earn a spot on the overall list at No. 24.

Both players have tremendous potential although DeJean has the easier path to playing time if he can handle slot duties as expected with perhaps only injury-prone Avonte Maddox standing between the rookie and a potential Week 1 starting spot.

Mitchell also has an opportunity to start Week 1 but he’s going to be in a tough training camp battle with veteran Isaiah Rodgers and promising second-year player Kelee Ringo, who finished No. 25 on the list, to play opposite Darius Slay.

At the bare minimum, both rookies figure to be in the mix in subpackage roles against the Green Bay Packers on Sept. 6 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. 

Iowa defensive back Cooper DeJean (3) runs back a punt for a touchdown at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, October 21, 2023 in Iowa City. / Lily Smith/The Register / USA TODAY

“We’ve moved him around a little bit,” secondary coach Christian Parker said of DeJean this spring. “He can handle it mentally. And I think as we move on through this phase right now when going into training camp, then he’ll have a home. 

“But he’s playing corner, he’s playing nickel, he’s handling those things well. We’ll continue to put more on his plate and see how he handles it.”

Parker was emphatic about DeJean and every other defensive back needing a  “home” no matter how versatile they may be. 

"I think that's the main thing, you don't want to take advantage of an intelligent football player because you do want him to play fast,” Parker explained. “So we're never going to put [DeJean] in a situation where he has to learn a million jobs and he can't be really good at one.”

Those are solid hints that DeJean will at least start out inside before evolving into a larger role.

“I'm just trying to take in and learn different things right now, inside and outside,” DeJean said. “I don't have a problem with having a lot on my plate. I'm here to play football and learn football.

“The more positions I can learn I feel like it helps me out on the field when I'm at one of those positions. You know, knowing what those other positions are doing and where I can get my help.”

This is only the beginning for both DeJean and Mitchell and if you fast forward 12 months, expect each player to be much higher on this list in the summer of 2025.

MORE NFL: Eagles Top 25 Best Players Countdown: A Developing Cornerback Checks in at No. 25