Eagles' impressive cornerback duo seeks more recognition entering their second year

USA Today

3 hours ago

Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean enter year two wanting more after spectacular Eagles debuts
Days pass, and every time we watch Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, we become more impressed with how talented they are. Defensive Rookie of the Year finalists in their first NFL season, they helped the Philadelphia Eagles add another Lombardi Trophy to the shelf.
That made both men champions in the first year of their professional careers. How's that for an introduction? The question now is what comes next?
Perhaps they could help win it all again? It would be the best scenario. It would seem they'd be spoiled now, right? It would seem after that level of baptism into professional football, anything less than a confetti shower is a letdown.
Two phenomenal Eagles defenders enter year two after the best debuts they could have offered.
Here's a serious question, though. How good can these guys become? It feels like Mitchell is so polished that he is taken for granted. He makes plays at practice. No one blinks or mentions anything.
Maybe we've just settled into believing that his genius is to be expected. And, it is. We've heard all of the theories about Philadelphia's desire to have him travel with the other team's best wide receiver.
No one objects, but he's only one man. Let's hope the Eagles' coaching staff doesn't burn this guy out. He's much too valuable.
DeJean has reached rockstar status. That isn't an exaggeration. He turned 22 years old on Super Bowl Sunday, but he's almost like a teen idol in a helmet. Never will his pick-six off Patrick Mahomes' arm be forgotten, the first interception by an Eagle ever in a Super Bowl.
DeJean lends his talents to his Exciting Mics podcast with Reed Blankenship. Sure, we know DeJean has personality. We know Blenkenship is one of the stabilizing voices on defense. We often help teammates with alignment, but truth be told, we weren't sure a podcast was coming.
Oh, and about that DROY thing... Unfortunately, they didn't win, but it's hard to beat edge rushers who track down quarterbacks for a living. As the season went on, Jared Verse felt like a shoo-in. Sheesh... Can you imagine if that guy had played with Aaron Donald?
Mitchell and DeJean have nothing to hang their heads about, though. They're both co-Defensive Rookie of the Year winners in our book.
So, here we are... Year two... Philadelphia fans, we know this isn't your biggest strength, but we implore you all to be patient. Sophomore slumps happen, and even though we don't expect these two to endure one, we know adversity will come because they'll be tested more now that teams have a year's worth of film on them.
In the end, however, you can expect continued excellence. There will be ups and downs, but there will be more upward swings than downward performances. That's what we expect from the 2025 first and second-rounder. It's going to be a whole heck of a lot of fun to watch these two grow up together.