Joel Klatt: Cooper DeJean ‘looks really good’ for Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions have had recent success drafting players who played collegiately for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
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Speaking to the media following the Play Football Prospect Clinic with Special Olympics athletes draft event, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt expressed fondness for another Hawkeyes player the Lions could realistically target at pick No. 29.

“There’s a player based on last year’s draft that I’m looking at in particular in the place where they’re drafting. And I’m like, oh man, Cooper DeJean looks really good for the Lions,” said Klatt. “They’ve obviously scouted Iowa incredibly well. But all kidding aside, he really fits a lot of what they need in the secondary defensive help more specifically, and a guy that can be a hybrid player.”

DeJean was a standout for the Hawkeyes’ defense, as he posted 120 total tackles and seven career interceptions over three collegiate seasons.

“Cooper has played corner and he’s played it as well as anybody in college football. He was remarkable. Great instincts. I think he can probably be a better safety in the NFL,” Klatt continued. “Not a lot of people have talked about that, but I think that his longevity would be to move into a more of a safety role. That’s a guy that I can’t get out of my head when Detroit is looking at this draft.”

The Michigan Wolverines insider also noted that the sheer number of trades that have taken place in early rounds of the draft has been exciting, as teams are not sitting back and waiting to land players they covet.

“This is what I love about the draft. I feel like it’s gotten more aggressive in recent years with all the movement and the trades. What you start to see is that teams go through this process and they’ve put in an enormous amount of of manpower and resources and time and energy into these prospects,” Klatt commented. “And they start to they start to fall in love with not just the player but the person. And they think to themselves, ‘We need that guy in our locker room.’ And I think that’s the reason why you see more trades now is because teams have the the equity.”

When asked about defensive lineman Darius Robinson potentially being selected by Detroit, Klatt expressed he could see general manager Brad Holmes targeting a player along the interior of the defensive line this year.

“If you want to call it that, the ammunition to go and trade and move up. Robinson is an interesting thought. I keep thinking about maybe even interior (defensive line) for them. I think interior could be in play,” Klatt said. “I don’t think Byron Murphy would be available, but Braden Fiske or Johnny Newton from Illinois — those are names that that I could see popping up as well. And Darius Robinson is obviously a really good player as well.”

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