Cooper DeJean met with Buffalo Bills on top-30 pre-draft visit Tuesday

Could DeJean be head coach Sean McDermott’s next elite defensive chess piece?

The 2024 NFL Draft is almost upon us, with just a couple weeks to go before the league introduces its newest class of players. News continues to trickle in about top-30 visitors for the Buffalo Bills, with the latest being one of the draft’s top safety prospects — Cooper DeJean.

DeJean was the first to inform social media that he was at One Bills Drive, with Billy M helping to spread the news, followed by Jordan Schultz — who confirmed it was a top-30 visit on Tuesday.

To most observers, the Bills need to think long and hard — and then double back while considering it further — before passing up the opportunity to select a wide receiver early in this year’s draft. That’s not without merit, given both Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis are no longer catching passes from quarterback Josh Allen. But should Buffalo sit still and see the board play out a particular way such that receivers begin to disappear, it might just work in the team’s favor.

DeJean is a specimen at defensive back, and adding him to the Bills’ secondary should allow head coach Sean McDermott a renewed opportunity to build what the team had when both Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde put the league on notice.

The difference with DeJean is that he brings an elite set of measurables, and he’s adept playing anywhere within a defensive backfield. When you add in his potential as a special teams returner, there’s a case to be made for drafting DeJean over any other prospect available to the Buffalo Bills with their first pick.

Of course, there’s no guarantee DeJean lasts until pick 28, not that Buffalo decides to remain in neutral in that spot. That said, it may be time to begin seriously considering prospects beyond the very large group of wide receivers. Yes, the current regime has never made a significant investment in drafting a receiver early (outside of using a first-round pick in trade for Diggs), and the talent at the top of this class is enticing. But the game within the game becomes how much better those receivers available at 28 (or wherever they pick) are, compared with the ones likely to be available late in Round 2.

A player with DeJean’s potential may prove too difficult to pass up, if he’s sitting there waiting late in the first round. In three seasons at Iowa, the 6’1”, 203-pound DeJean made 120 tackles (85 solo), five tackles for loss, 13 pass defenses, and seven interceptions (for 132 yards) with three touchdowns. As a special teams returner, DeJean added 1 kick return for 20 yards, and 31 punt returns for 406 yards with one touchdown.

(stats courtesy of Sports Reference)

Should Cooper DeJean play safety in the NFL, he’d bring truly dangerous speed, having run a 4.43 40-yard dash at his recent pro day. In reality, there’s almost nowhere DeJean can’t play in the defensive backfield, and he already has a fair bit of the same traits both Poyer and Hyde brought to the Bills for so many years.