Current Draft Projection and Summary
On my board, DeJean grades out as a top-25 prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft who could feasibly challenge for top-15 capital, depending on schematic preference. It remains to be seen whether or not he’ll unseat Kool-Aid McKinstry as CB1, but DeJean is firmly in the Round 1 CB discussion.
DeJean’s traits and style mesh particularly well with zone and off-man schemes. He’s an explosive, gliding athlete at 6’1″, 209 pounds, with stellar space management skills, zone awareness, route IQ, and reaction quickness, and he also has the rapid closing speed to trigger and wash in front of ill-fated throws.
Naturally, with his mass, DeJean doesn’t quite have elite fluidity. He’s fluid enough with exceptional corrective athleticism, but there are times when he struggles to sink on sharper transitions. Nevertheless, DeJean has great discipline and foot speed in press-man, and he can use his length and physicality to dictate releases as well.
The tape evaluation speaks very favorably of DeJean’s diagnostic tools, both physical and mental. And at the end of the day, the production corroborates his talent. He’s a prolific ball hawk with unmatched playmaking statistics and a support defender with all-encompassing range, physicality, and utility.
There’s an outcome where DeJean splits time between the boundary, the slot, and field safety at the NFL level. Ultimately, he’s an extremely role-versatile player based on the game script. Let him manage and play in space, and let him crash downhill and attack blocks. Either way, he’ll produce from whichever alignment he takes on these jobs.
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Originally Posted by bobblehead
. Valentine doesn't look as good as Jaire, come on now. Valentine looks like he could be a good player but so did Quinton Rollins and LaDarius Gunter for a minute there. It is way too early to tell with him IMO.
