Philadephia Eagles veteran cornerback Darius Slay was a Cooper DeJean fan long before he knew they would end up being teammates.
During the latest episode of Chris Long's "Green Light" podcast, Slay revealed that he had commented on one of DeJean's high school basketball highlight videos four years ago.
"Like, he's special," Slay said. "I saw Cooper DeJean in high school playing basketball, right. I saw him doing windmill dunks and all kinds of crazy stuff.
"I'm like, woo! And then, like, I commented to him like four years ago and he commented back saying he appreciated it. Then the next thing you know he gets drafted to us."
DeJean was a three-year varsity basketball starter at OABCIG High School in Ida Grove, Iowa, where he totaled 1,832 points.
After he went drafted out of Iowa by the birds in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft, his high school basketball highlights that impressed Slay so much went viral.
Now the two are teammates and there's a real chance they could line up together as a dangerous duo in the secondary come Week 1.
DeJean Making NFL Transition Look Like Piece of Cake
The Eagles don't necessarily have a plan for how they're going to use DeJean in their secondary just yet, but that's because he's been playing everywhere, and doing it really well.
Through OTAs and mandatory minicamps, the Eagles tested DeJean at cornerback, in the slot, and at safety, and according to multiple reports, the rookie looked solid at each position he lined up at.
Since he can handle it, the Eagles said they're going to continue to add more to his plate rather than give him just one job.
"I think Coop is very versatile," Eagles defensive backs coach Christian Parker told reporters during minicamp. "I think he plays with good vision to the ball. I think that he has good ball skills. I think we’re kind of in that process now we've moved him around a little bit. He can handle it mentally and I think as we move on through this phase right now and going into training camp then he'll have a home but he's been he's playing corner, he's playing nickel, you know, he's handling those things well and we'll continue to put more on his plate and see how he can handle it.”
The Eagles currently have 19 defensive backs competing for a roster spot and only about half of them will have a job come September.
DeJeans versatility and smooth transition that he's made to the next level so far should help him earn one of those spots.
