Before he established himself at the professional level, Philadelphia Eagles defensive back Cooper DeJean was a superstar for the Iowa Hawkeyes. DeJean was primarily an outside cornerback, but he also played the cash/hybrid DB positions, and was also was a very dangerous punt returner.
He was in Iowa City during some of the leanest years of the Brian Ferentz offenses, so having DeJean to sometimes get them six points off of special teams was a huge difference maker for those teams. In the late 2010s and early 2020s, Iowa's special teams and defense simply just had to be a critical component of the formula to score points. DeJean was a second round pick (40th overall) in 2024, and he was first team All-Pro last season.
In redshirt junior Zach Lutmer, Iowa has another star player at the cash position, who is set to return punts. Lutmer, whose versatility is a major ******* et, will shift over to free safety this year, and take over the punt returning duties from the departed Katen Wetjen.
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz has not exactly compared Lutmer to DeJean, but he has pointed out their similarities.
"Cooper gave me a lot of knowledge my freshman year and helped me out in a lot of different ways," Lutmer said at Media Day.

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