So.. Should Coop have stayed?

[Herky T Hawk]

7 WRs in the first round. 6 QBs in the top 12 picks, including two guys that were drafted too early. 7 OTs in the first round, including one or two that were taken too early.

Only 9 defenders taken, 5 of which were pass rushers. This was the perfect storm working against him.

 

[Forgery5]

Clearly the question is going to be position, and there were several teams that needed the pure corner and picked highly rated guys that can cover. Coop is a hybrid and you'd think that would be in his favor but it wasn't last night. The injury hurt him, and coming back for another year would have benefitted him IMO, but can't blame him for leaving. He'll get his chance tonight, and be an absolute steal!!

 

[Franisdaman]

Cooper being taken in the 1st round was such a sure thing that the Iowa Hawkeyes Creative Content Team was in freakin' Odebolt last night.

 

[Zooropa_NCR]

No, he wouldn't ever be a top 10 pick. A lot of teams view him as a nickel or safety if you haven't been playing attention to pre draft coverage.

Love the kid, like I'm sure you do, but that's just not at all realistic. Sorry.

Yep. He was a great Hawkeye, but let’s face it Hawk corners don’t really translate to the next level. Desmond King has bounced between safety and nickel. Same with Micah Hyde. I feel they were both more athletic than Cooper.

Even if he came back and played offense, that doesn’t really help help his draft stock….especially in the Iowa offense haha.

Some team is going to get a steal. He could end up as an all-pro safety and special teams player.

Maybe he proves me wrong but he stands no chance against NFL WR. He barely played against any in the Big10

 

[ellobo]

If he didn’t get injured, he’d probably be taken in the top 15.

I got mocked on this board when I said the NFL would question his leg (after his pro-day 40 was good but not the lighting some expected)...though I also said that is why he won't be a top 15 pick but rather a later 1st round pick...

Some teams are looking, right now, at their boards and going "wait, this is guy is still there?" He'll get picked pretty fast tonight

 

[HawkGem11]

Lol not it doesn't

Coop might be the fourth best cb next year in the Midwest, let alone add anyone from the south

lol no

 

[QChawks]

the white CB thing is real

 

[Iafootballfan]

Maybe he proves me wrong but he stands no chance against NFL WR. He barely played against any in the Big10

You said the quiet part out loud.

 

[mthawkeyes]

I don't know if he will end up playing S or CB in the NFL, but it got very tiresome last night listening to analysts saying that some team should take a CB who is not DeJean because the guy "can do it all." DeJean proved to be a playmaker at multiple positions as a DB and a returner. And with KO returns being put back into the NFL game, it would only seem to increase his value. I was really hoping the 49ers would take him when he kept dropping. A ball player behind a very good front seven translates to turnovers created.

 

[RayRay3454]

Yep. He was a great Hawkeye, but let’s face it Hawk corners don’t really translate to the next level. Desmond King has bounced between safety and nickel. Same with Micah Hyde. I feel they were both more athletic than Cooper.

Even if he came back and played offense, that doesn’t really help help his draft stock….especially in the Iowa offense haha.

Some team is going to get a steal. He could end up as an all-pro safety and special teams player.

Maybe he proves me wrong but he stands no chance against NFL WR. He barely played against any in the Big10

Micah and Dez were great Hawks that had solid careers, but they were not as athletic as Cooper. He will get picked early tonight and still get paid with a 4 year deal with no 5th year option so if he plays great he will make more his 5th year than those drafted in the bottom of the 1st.

 

[TheGuy9]

Being a white corner, he was always at a disadvantage.

While the injury hurt, being white hurt him more. Face it. When it comes to white corners, nobody wanted to be the first team to take a white corner in the first round in the 21st century. There was no upside. Do good: Ho-hum. Everyone knew he would. Fail: Everyone knew he would and how could you be so dumb as to waste a first-round pick on him. The NFL has a bigotry towards cornerbacks of a particular color.

 

[Rifler]

Doesn't matter when he goes,.. when he gets there he'll kick ass.

 

[Zooropa_NCR]

Micah and Dez were great Hawks that had solid careers, but they were not as athletic as Cooper. He will get picked early tonight and still get paid with a 4 year deal with no 5th year option so if he plays great he will make more his 5th year than those drafted in the bottom of the 1st.

One of the few times Kirk admitted a flaw or mistake was not using Micah on punt returns. The kid was just as athletic as Coop but never got a chance to show it until too late.

Watching King’s Iowa career along side Coopers and i don’t really see a big difference honestly. King absolutely shut down his side of the field….and once Kirk allowed the punt team to actually return punts he was a playmaker there too.

I think cooper will have a great NFL career. I also think we have a bias being a home grown hawk vs everyone in the NFL is basically the same level of athletic ability. Especially defensive backfield. The top players are all fast and athletic freaks.

We have seen how Iowa DBs fair once they get to the league. There is nothing wrong with being a great safety. You can win DPOY….

 

[LarryMullenJr.]

But.....but....Mel Kiper!!!

 

[RayRay3454]

One of the few times Kirk admitted a flaw or mistake was not using Micah on punt returns. The kid was just as athletic as Coop but never got a chance to show it until too late.

Watching King’s Iowa career along side Coopers and i don’t really see a big difference honestly. King absolutely shut down his side of the field….and once Kirk allowed the punt team to actually return punts he was a playmaker there too.

I think cooper will have a great NFL career. I also think we have a bias being a home grown hawk vs everyone in the NFL is basically the same level of athletic ability. Especially defensive backfield. The top players are all fast and athletic freaks.

We have seen how Iowa DBs fair once they get to the league. There is nothing wrong with being a great safety. You can win DPOY….

Dez 6.49 RAS and Micah 4.73 (2 of my favorite Hawks) tested poorly athleticly and stilll had good NFL careers. Coop 9.89 RAS tested just below the top 1% athleticaly. RAS = relative athletic score

 

[kwik44]

Always good to see the Hawk fans with their black and gold glasses on. Coop made the right choice. He will go very early in the 2nd. There is no guarantee anything changes with another year, see Des King.

Except north of 1 million from endorsements/Swarm, and name on Kinnick.

 

[bdcolt45er]

One of the few times Kirk admitted a flaw or mistake was not using Micah on punt returns. The kid was just as athletic as Coop but never got a chance to show it until too late.

Watching King’s Iowa career along side Coopers and i don’t really see a big difference honestly. King absolutely shut down his side of the field….and once Kirk allowed the punt team to actually return punts he was a playmaker there too.

I think cooper will have a great NFL career. I also think we have a bias being a home grown hawk vs everyone in the NFL is basically the same level of athletic ability. Especially defensive backfield. The top players are all fast and athletic freaks.

We have seen how Iowa DBs fair once they get to the league. There is nothing wrong with being a great safety. You can win DPOY….

Cooper is taller, bigger, faster, more explosive than King. It isn't really close. Hyde and Coop definitely have some similarities in their return abilities, and it is fair to say that Hyde didn't get opportunities but I don't think Hyde could make people miss and pull away from people the way Cooper could. He makes guys completely whiff and then pulls away almost effortlessly.

 

[jdv77]

The list of Hawkeyes who should have been taken in the 1st round and slipped to the 2nd round during Coach Ferentz's tenure is reasonably long: Eric Steinbach, Bob Sanders, James Daniels, Josh Jackson, AJ Epenesa, Sam LaPorta. Several of them had remaining eligibility. In my opinion, it is hard to say that it is a mistake to go early and end up in the second round. (1) The NFL career starts a year earlier, (2) The rookie deal is a year shorter. So the player gets to the second contract 2 years earlier than if the player stays at Iowa and gets drafted in the first round a year later.

 

[Packer54]

Bottom line is, someone is going to get a bit of a steal when they write his name down and send it to the podium.

 

[ClarindaA's]

What else could he possibly do next year to sway an NFL GM’s opinion?!? Besides maybe the injury being well behind him, I just don’t see what else he could have done.

Play qb

 

[ichawk24]

After seeing this season end in injury, he needed to cash in while he can. I'm very happy that he left and will be an early 2nd round pick.

 

[ItsAllBallBearingsNowadays]

The feedback he got from the NFL said he'd be a 1st round pick. So, based on the available information, Cooper made the right decision. After all, everyone says "if you are a projected 1st rounder, it's a no brainer; you declare for the NFL Draft." All of the draft experts had him going in the 1st round as well.

TWO WEEKS after being medically cleared, 25 NFL teams were present at his Pro Day in Iowa City. In the last 37 years, Cooper ranks in the TOP 1.1% of ALL CORNERBACKS tested (he is #28 out of 2,469 CORNERBACKS). He posted the best RAS (relative athletic score) for a CB prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft class.

Why NFL GMs made the decision 32 times not to pick him last night is a head scratcher.

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Not….Athletic…. Enough…

 

[ghostOfHomer777]

Fell to at least round 2.

Trade-offs ... his initial contract won't be as big. But also, he'll be a year closer to his 2nd contract.

As others indicated ... between being a white-cb and coming off an injury ... it was probably too risky to invest in him as a 1st rounder (or, at least, that could have been the perception).

 

[Sett1997]

The feedback he got from the NFL said he'd be a 1st round pick. So, based on the available information, Cooper made the right decision. After all, everyone says "if you are a projected 1st rounder, it's a no brainer; you declare for the NFL Draft." All of the draft experts had him going in the 1st round as well.

TWO WEEKS after being medically cleared, 25 NFL teams were present at his Pro Day in Iowa City. In the last 37 years, Cooper ranks in the TOP 1.1% of ALL CORNERBACKS tested (he is #28 out of 2,469 CORNERBACKS). He posted the best RAS (relative athletic score) for a CB prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft class.

Why NFL GMs made the decision 32 times not to pick him last night is a head scratcher.

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Along with that, Iowa has a history of players exceeding their draft position and Cooper is also an extremely high character person.
Total head scratcher.

 

[Fan In Black]

Dez 6.49 RAS and Micah 4.73 (2 of my favorite Hawks) tested poorly athleticly and stilll had good NFL careers. Coop 9.89 RAS tested just below the top 1% athleticaly. RAS = relative athletic score

Coop is in a league of his own athleticly. I don't know how it's even debatable. That RAS 2 weeks after being sidelined for 4 months is F insane.

 

[LaQuintaHawkeye]

Atlanta totally wasted their first round pick. Even if pennix does do a decent job, he’ll be like 27 when cousins contract is up.

THIS^ right here is what really fk'd Cooper imo. It started a chain reaction that derailed a lot of team's strategy and picks that would have been made on down the line.

He’s a white corner back. He could turn out to be great back can you imagine if he fails and you were the GM that drafted a white cornerback in the first round.

Nice to know that the NFL is as racist as ever.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

The list of Hawkeyes who should have been taken in the 1st round and slipped to the 2nd round during Coach Ferentz's tenure is reasonably long: Eric Steinbach, Bob Sanders, James Daniels, Josh Jackson, AJ Epenesa, Sam LaPorta. Several of them had remaining eligibility. In my opinion, it is hard to say that it is a mistake to go early and end up in the second round. (1) The NFL career starts a year earlier, (2) The rookie deal is a year shorter. So the player gets to the second contract 2 years earlier than if the player stays at Iowa and gets drafted in the first round a year later.

But then Iowa doesn't win a national championship as a consequence...........

 

[RagnarLothbrok]

Back at you pussy

Another Internet tough guy.

So precious.

 

[bman546]

The 1st round going as it did suddenly has people saying he should have stayed...... (based mostly on a personal wish he would be playing for the Hawks in the fall more than anything). 2nd round pick still have about a $10 million--$6 million rookie contract.... If the "white" corner" thing is real, guess what, he would have been white in next year's draft too. I think the injury is the main reason he dropped. DeJean will be fine. The payday is still quite lucrative, and if he performs the big payday will come in 3-4 years... He made the right move for himself, but not the right move if you want a better secondary for Hawkeye football in 2024.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

The 1st round going as it did suddenly has people saying he should have stayed...... (based mostly on a personal wish he would be playing for the Hawks in the fall more than anything). 2nd round pick still have about a $10 million--$6 million rookie contract.... If the "white" corner" thing is real, guess what, he would have been white in next year's draft too. I think the injury is the main reason he dropped. DeJean will be fine. The payday is still quite lucrative, and if he performs the big payday will come in 3-4 years... He made the right move for himself, but not the right move if you want a better secondary for Hawkeye football in 2024.

Well, if he doesn't end up on the Vikings, regardless of round, then it'll have been a bad move no matter what, for everyone involved..............

 

[PinkLockerRoom]

Well of course he should have. He got injured and that’s a big deal. Falling to round two cost him millions of dollars.

 

[bdcolt45er]

The 1st round going as it did suddenly has people saying he should have stayed...... (based mostly on a personal wish he would be playing for the Hawks in the fall more than anything). 2nd round pick still have about a $10 million--$6 million rookie contract.... If the "white" corner" thing is real, guess what, he would have been white in next year's draft too. I think the injury is the main reason he dropped. DeJean will be fine. The payday is still quite lucrative, and if he performs the big payday will come in 3-4 years... He made the right move for himself, but not the right move if you want a better secondary for Hawkeye football in 2024.

The biggest reason for his drop was the focus on offensive players. There was a uncharacteristically high selection of offensive players. It seems to me a lot of teams felt like they had to get a QB or offensive lineman and they saw guys coming off the board and felt it was risky to wait until later. It actually felt a lot like a fantasy draft.

 

[amahawk]

Always good to see the Hawk fans with their black and gold glasses on. Coop made the right choice. He will go very early in the 2nd. There is no guarantee anything changes with another year, see Des King.

I still think Green Bay wants him. They had more need for a tackle.

 

[RagnarLothbrok]

Yep. He was a great Hawkeye, but let’s face it Hawk corners don’t really translate to the next level. Desmond King has bounced between safety and nickel. Same with Micah Hyde. I feel they were both more athletic than Cooper.

Even if he came back and played offense, that doesn’t really help help his draft stock….especially in the Iowa offense haha.

Some team is going to get a steal. He could end up as an all-pro safety and special teams player.

Maybe he proves me wrong but he stands no chance against NFL WR. He barely played against any in the Big10

You don’t think Micah Hyde has had a good career in Buffalo?

I share your doubts about DeJean being able to play cornerback in the NFL. He is a heck of an athlete, but I have always doubted how his skill set translates to the NFL. He most likely will be a kick returner and come in as a nickel back on third and long situations. I’m guessing most teams weren’t willing to use a first round pick on that.

And, yes, for those who have mentioned it, I’m sure plenty of coaches and front office personnel have private doubts about a white cornerback. Fair or not, perception matters. It was that way a long time for black quarterbacks, and it’s still that way for white cornerbacks.

Tbh, when you have wide receivers with 4.3 and sub 4.3 forty times, you better have a corner who is blazing fast. Cooper was clocked at 4.45 and 4.42, which is actually a little better than the average forty time for NFL corners. If not for Cooper’s injury, he probably would have been a first round pick. Or, as others have mentioned, Cooper really hasn’t faced elite talent at the WR position in the non-conference or Big Ten regular season, and that could have caused some reluctance from teams as well.

 

[LukaDuka]

Trade-offs ... his initial contract won't be as big. But also, he'll be a year closer to his 2nd contract.

As others indicated ... between being a white-cb and coming off an injury ... it was probably too risky to invest in him as a 1st rounder (or, at least, that could have been the perception).

This is a benefit. Once he's proven in the league, he will command a very sizeable contract in free agency. If he stays healthy, he will make big bank!

 

[mlb1399]

Selfishly, yes. For him, no. He’ll get taken this round and make a lot of money. If he got banged up again next year, his draft stock may have plummeted more. Right now, someone is going to get incredible value on a guy that is just a gamer. I also wonder whether he’ll stay at CB or move to FS in the NFL.

 

[BondHawk]

If He stays healthy and as Kirk said was playing offense too he would have been a top 10 pick

Kirk saying DeJean might "play some offense" translates into "we might fake a jet sweep to our best all-around player once every 3-4 games"

 

[littlez]

He was never going top 15. Now I'm a bit surprised he dropped to the 2nd round but he still made the right decision. He broke his leg this year for goodness sakes. There's only so much mileage on these guys. While I'm sure he loved being a Hawkeye, it's every athletes dream to play in the pros. It's a fact there just aren't any white corners. Like it or not. I still think he can do it, but if not he will make an unbelievable safety. Look at our Cash position the last 3 drafts. Hooker, etc. All have done well. Coop is a better athlete than all of them and I would love to see him playing downhill and also covering receivers. He would/will be a beast. Whatever happens he will be fine!

 

[pistachio1999]

What he shouldn't have done is practice for the offense.

 

[bman546]

Some team could also convert him to safety if they already have good corners.... let him use his instincts and knack for anticipating where the play/ball is going... plus he will return punts, and with the new kick off set up, he will probably do that as well. He will be on the field in the secondary and returning kicks either way.