Iowa’s Cooper DeJean discusses recovery from season-ending injury, 2024 NFL Draft preparations

INDIANAPOLIS — Whether it be Cade McNamara, Luke Lachey or Erick All, there was no denying Iowa’s unfortunate injury luck on offense in 2023.

On a Wednesday practice in mid-November, even Cooper DeJean — the defensive back and special teams star who took some snaps on offense — was not immune.

DeJean fractured his right fibula while practicing on the offensive side of the ball on Nov. 15, putting an abrupt end to the unanimous All-American’s season.

“It's kind of crazy with all the injuries we had on the offensive side,” DeJean said Thursday at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. “I go over there and get injured. … It's just kind of a freak thing.”

Three-plus months after the injury, DeJean said Thursday he has been medically cleared to resume football activities as he prepares for the 2024 NFL Draft.

While technically able to participate in drills, DeJean has not had enough time to prepare properly for this week’s combine drills.

“I just started running full speed last week, so I haven’t been able to train like I’d want to, to be able to put the whole thing on display,” DeJean said.

Iowa’s March 18 pro day also appears to be an unlikely time for NFL scouts to see DeJean conduct drills.

"I don’t think I’ll be working out at pro day, but sometime definitely before the draft, early April,“ DeJean said.

The injury that led to DeJean’s adjusted NFL evaluation timeline is something Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz feared when asked throughout the year about whether he would use DeJean to boost Iowa’s last-place offense.

Ferentz noted “we only got one of him” as he spoke with reporters following DeJean’s offensive debut against Northwestern. Ferentz later commented about how nobody knows “when a guy's going to get hurt.”

“He's extremely valuable on defense, extremely valuable on special teams,” Ferentz said on Nov. 7. “So where do you give, where do you take? We have a pretty good thing going defensively right now. You're worried about disrupting that. Same thing on special teams.”

The injury, while unfortunate, is not an insurmountable obstacle for DeJean in his NFL preparations.

By planning to hold his own pro day, DeJean is following a similar route as former Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum. The Solon native was recovering from the foot injury he suffered in the 2022 Citrus Bowl.

Linderbaum’s lack of ability to conduct combine drills did not seem to hurt his draft prognosis as the Baltimore Ravens selected him with the 25th overall pick.

DeJean, like Linderbaum was two years ago, is widely considered to be a first-round pick in April’s draft. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. projected DeJean to be picked 19th by the Los Angeles Rams in his latest mock draft.

The Odebolt native — he made a point to shout out 988-person Odebolt, by the way, in his 13-plus minutes in front of dozens of reporters — opted to forego his final year of college eligibility as he pursues his NFL ambitions.

Leaving the Hawkeyes was “tough,” DeJean said, especially with Iowa “being my dream school.”

“And then obviously the injury made it even more tough, just not being able to end my career the way I wanted to,” DeJean said. “I had a lot of long conversations with the coaches, my family, friends, people close to me. But ultimately, I feel like this was the best decision for myself.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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