“He Ran a 100m Faster Than Saquon Barkley”: Tristan Wirfs Raves About the Insane Athleticism of Eagles CB Cooper DeJean

The legend of Cooper DeJean has grown exponentially since his pivotal 38-yard interception return TD in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX. But growing up in Iowa, DeJean was much more than a football standout. He was an immensely gifted sports prodigy.

DeJean was also an elite basketball player and a track star. In fact, as a senior at OC-BCIG High School in Odebolt, Iowa, back in 2021, he ran a blazing 10.71 in the 100-meter dash. Even so, one would assume that DeJean’s speed couldn’t quite match the breakaway pace of teammate Saquon Barkley, who was a high school track star himself. But Barkley’s fastest recorded time was 10.90.

The idea that DeJean might be more athletic than the guy who pulled off a backward hurdle this year is tough for anyone to wrap their head around — including NFL veterans like Tampa Bay Buccaneers tackle Tristan Wirfs.

In The Pivot podcast, Ryan Clark brought up the topic of white cornerbacks, or rather the lack of them in the NFL, when Cooper’s prodigious physical prowess was highlighted.

“I’m gonna ask you a very Iowa question. That’s important to me as a former defensive back. Where are ya’ll getting these white boys that can play corner?” Clark asked Wifs, who responded by stating how Cooper makes Saquon look slow with his sheer pace.

“From Iowa. Did you see the video of Coop running the 100-meter? He ran the 100-meter faster than Saquon. And he jumped the long jump further than Saquon. Coop’s a freak. Iowa, Iowa, the pipeline,” he added.

A running joke in NFL circles is the fact — and it is a fact — that there hadn’t been a white player playing cornerback in the NFL for years. For some reason, white guys simply couldn’t crack the cornerback code.

One of the funniest things you’ll ever see is Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay trying to answer why that is the case. It likely has something to do with a lack of athleticism, but DeJean will never have to worry about that.

DeJean also won the state title in the 100 meters with a 10.98-second run as a senior. However, his athletic excellence goes far beyond his straight-line speed.

He won another state title in the long jump by leaping just shy of 24 feet. He went to 24.2 at another meet that year, which was the 6th-best mark in Iowa high school history. On top of that, he was part of his school’s state title-winning relay team. They ran the four-legged race in 42.59 seconds.

That’s all before talking about his insane bounce. The speed he has for a man of his low melanin levels is already surprising, but his white-boy bounce is downright unprecedented.

He leaped 38.5 inches at the combine, but his jaw-dropping leaping ability can be best understood through his high school basketball mixtape. Get ready for a lot of dunks.

Despite his otherworldly athleticism and four-star recruit status, DeJean was lightly recruited and attended local Iowa University. After three years in Iowa City, he was drafted in the 2nd round, No. 40 overall, by the Eagles last year. He missed the first few weeks of his rookie season with injury, but once he got out there, it was impossible to ignore his ability.

He ended up starting nine of his final 12 regular season games and all four playoff games. He and fellow rookie CB, 1st-rounder Quinyon Mitchell, injected some youthful energy into a secondary that had been laden with wily veterans. The combination of youth and experience resulted in a league-best pass defense by the Eagles that allowed just 174.2 yards per game.

DeJean, for his part, finished the year with 69 total tackles, including 25 stops, which ranked in the top 15 among CBs, per PFF. He’s known for his athleticism, but the 6-foot, 200-pound DB isn’t afraid to get his nose dirty either. The best example of that was his stick-on bruising superstar running back Derrick Henry back in early December.

He had no interceptions during the regular season, though. That meant that the very first pick of DeJean’s NFL career came on his 22nd birthday… in a Super Bowl win. Not to mention he took it all the way to the house, too. Hollywood can’t write a script much better than that.