Eagles Top 25 For 2025: From High School Legend To Celebrity, Rookie Lands At No. 7
PHILADELPHIA – He was just a kid from a small farming town in Iowa, whose legend began to grow in high school, at Oabcig, a consolidated school in Ida Grove, Iowa.
It was there when Cooper DeJean quarterbacked his team a state title with two touchdown runs and a two-point conversion in the final 1:30 to win the Class 1A state title, amassing 9,520 total yards and 132 touchdowns over his career.
On the basketball court, he scored 1,832 career points, placing him just behind NFL tight end T.J. Hockenson and 55 points ahead Of NBA player Harrison Barnes on the state’s all-time scoring list. In track and field, he won state titles in the 100 meters and long jump, leaving with the sixth-best long jump in state history at 24-02.
Still, he received limited scholarship offers and chose to play defense at Iowa over the chance to play quarterback at South Dakota State.
It wasn’t until he came to the Eagles that he became a celebrity, and after only one season, he has already claimed the No. 7 spot in our annual countdown of the top 25 best Eagles on the roster.
Eagles on Sports Illustrated beat reporters Ed Kracz and John McMullen each compiled their top 25 lists separately, and a point system determined the final list with No. 1 receiving 25 points all the way down to one point for No. 25 to come up with the 25 best.
DeJean collected 36 points, though there was a disparity in the voting. Kracz had DeJean sixth on his list. McMullen had him 10th.
The list so far:
No. 25 (tie): Jihaad Campbell and Drew Mukuba (3 points each)
No. 24: Matt Pryor (4)
No. 23: Adoree Jackson (5)
No. 22: Jahan Dotson (7)
No. 21: Kelee Ringo (8)
No. 20: Jake Elliott (13)
No. 19: Jalyx Hunt (13)
No. 18: Moro Ojomo (14)
No. 17: Jordan Davis (19)
No. 16: Nakobe Dean (20)
No. 15: Reed Blankenship (21)
No. 14: Nolan Smith (25)
No. 13: Dallas Goedert (27)
No. 12: Cam Jurgens (28)
No. 11: Zack Baun (33)
No. 10: Quinyon Mitchell (34)
No. 9: DeVonta Smith (35)
No. 8: Landon Dickerson (35)
DeJean’s celebrity was etched in stone with his pick-6 interception of Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LIX on his 22nd birthday. He’s participated in several offseason events this year, and everywhere he goes, he hears, “Cooop.”
“I don’t think, whether I’ve become more popular in the city or whatever, I don’t think that’s changed who I am as a person,” he said. “I’m still continuing to work, and to try and be the best I can be at my job. There are a lot of things I can get better at coming off of last season, that I can be ready for this season. And those are the things that I’ve been working on this offseason. Becoming stronger, faster, being more comfortable out on the field, and working my techniques. I don’t think it’s changed me as a person at all.”
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