Remember the whole All-White vs All-Black Pro Bowl matchup suggested by former Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall? If there was one white dude who got the most shine from that, it had to be Cooper DeJean.
I’m not going to rehash that whole strange debate that took place online back in December, but the one thing that no one could deny was the lack of depth the white team had at corner…
We’d get cooked at corner, not gonna lie.
Nobody on our squad is covering Tyreek 😂 https://t.co/CLCugkM4LS
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) December 18, 2023
And while it’s true that white cornerbacks are as near mystical as unicorns, there was a glimmer of hope by the name of Cooper DeJean heading to the league at just the right time.
DeJean played college ball at Iowa and made quite the name for himself in the secondary, earning a unanimous consensus All-American nod, winning the Tatum-Woodson Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year award, and the Rodgers-Dwight Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year, as well as being a finalist for the Bronco Nagurski Trophy (effectively the Heisman for defensive players) and Jim Thorpe Award.
The NFL Draft is tonight and DeJean is projected to be a first round pick and there’s no shortage of fans who want him on their team because simply put, the guy is an athletic freak.
In high school he was a quarterback and his senior year stats are otherworldly. He threw for 3,447 yards and 35 touchdowns while adding 1,235 yards and 24 touchdowns on the ground while leading his school to their second state championship in four years.
He also ran track and posted the fastest 100 yard dash of anyone in the state his senior year and had the sixth best long jump in state history.
Oh yeah, he also played basketball, but we’ll get into that in just a second.
During the NFL Combine and subsequent meetings, it’s known that teams will ask players all sorts of crazy questions. Most are probably just to determine how fast they can think and provide a reasonable answer, but sometimes I really don’t know what the purpose is and one question that multiple teams asked DeJean fits in the later category.
Yahoo Sports posted a clip where DeJean is brings up the fact the a lot of teams asked him the same question, and his response has set the internet on fire.
“I wouldn’t say it’s really weird but a lot of teams have asked me if I could beat Caitlin Clark one-on-one. Just being from Iowa… I said I think I can, she’d probably score a few buckets on me but I think I can pull it off.”
Iowa CB Cooper DeJean thinks he can beat Caitlin Clark one-on-one 😮 @IowaAwesome pic.twitter.com/U2qX8MoTKl
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) April 24, 2024
Naturally, the initial response of some people on the internet was something like “Wow, look at this moron thinking he can beat the best women’s college basketball player of all time,” but then other people brought his high school career into the conversation and things changed rather quickly…
Remember how I mentioned he played basketball in high school? Yeah, saying he played is a bit of an understatement…
He scored 1,832 points in his career (ahead of 13 year NBA vet Harrison Barnes) and racked up 218 steals, both of which put him in the Iowa High School Basketball record books. He also put together a highlight reel of dunks that prove he’s far from a slouch on the court…
Take a look for yourself:
Iowa CB Cooper DeJean is going to be one of the first DB’s taken tomorrow in the NFL Draft.
But his high school basketball highlights are CRAZY 🤯🔥
(via: @CourtsideFilms)
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) April 24, 2024
Now, I’m not going to weigh in on who’s the better basketball player between the two, but I will say, it’ll be hard to Clark to make up for his explosivity, speed, and extra 50 pounds of weight…
However, people on the internet had no problem voicing their opinions on the hypothetical matchup.
They're are a lot of people who think Cooper DeJean would destroy Caitlin Clark in a game of 1 on 1.
They are all white men who never hooped
— T 🇧🇸🏴☠️ (@Taige42) April 25, 2024
love the confidence but he'd get cooked like a filet-o-fish https://t.co/79AR2QzQqe
— PlannedSickDays (@PlannedSickDays) April 24, 2024
some men really can’t help themselves 😂 she has just about every scoring record for college basketball (not just women’s). but ahh yes a goofy football
player that put up numbers in HIGH SCHOOL basketball can beat her. just disrespectful https://t.co/zfeRm9JroR— 23🐐 (@_YERFFEJ_) April 25, 2024
“Thinks” 😅 he averaged 27 a game in high school. Clark would do good to get a bucket. https://t.co/IRwNCQliLR
— tennessee jet (@Jetflight1017) April 25, 2024
Because he can, if he’s got any basketball skill at all, as a drastically superior athlete to her. https://t.co/0Xzs7DT2Tj
— BiggerTen (@BiggerTen) April 24, 2024
And many others stayed out but said that it makes sense because he’s a cornerback and you have to have insane confidence to line up with Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill, and DK Metcalf play in and play out.
Cornerbacks are the most irrationally confident people on earth, anything less than this would have been a surprising answer https://t.co/TCR4SzvyR8
— Nick (@theslick24) April 24, 2024
sign him @packers i need this crazy confidence from my CB https://t.co/RTogLdEmOX
— Damian (@DamianV_3) April 25, 2024
This is the type of trash talk real cornerbacks embrace, not safeties https://t.co/hbCtUA5Y1c
— Moneybagg Yo(hannes) 🇪🇷 (@AronYohannes) April 25, 2024
Well, what do you think? Is Cooper DeJean taking Caitlin Clark 1v1? I’d love to see the odds Vegas puts on it and then watch it actually play out…
I know it’s just the draft and it’s always a bit of a letdown, but man am I excited for a bit of football tonight.
