Iowa Hawkeyes boast two of Pro Football Focus’ top 10 2023 Big Ten cornerbacks
Don’t look now but the Iowa Hawkeyes are turning into a bit of a factory for excellent secondary talent that performs in college and makes the jump to the NFL with quite a bit of success. The lineage of Micah Hyde, Dane Belton, and the newest NFL rookie, Riley Moss, are recent examples.
That assembly line led by defensive coordinator Phil Parker is well-oiled and shows no signs of slowing down this season either. Iowa’s Cooper DeJean and Sebastian Castro are two of Pro Football Focus’ top 10 highest graded Big Ten cornerbacks entering 2023.
Highest graded returning Big Ten Cornerbacks🔥 pic.twitter.com/vwaC2C3C70
— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 23, 2023
DeJean is coming off a monster 2022 season which saw him haul in five interceptions and return three of them for touchdowns. He expects to be the anchor for this secondary and morph himself even further into an NFL first-round talent in next year’s NFL draft.
Any Big Ten list that doesn’t have DeJean right at the top after his performance last season is fair game for some criticism. While this list may snub him a little bit, it could be some bulletin board material as the season approaches.
Meanwhile, Sebastian Castro saw limited time last year but flashed when given the opportunity. The Illinois native contributed 22 tackles, one sack, and forced two fumbles in 2022. He is expected to take on a larger role in 2023.
Iowa is among a handful of schools that have multiple players on this list. The list is overwhelmingly headlined by the secondaries of Iowa, Michigan, Penn State, and Minnesota as these four schools occupy eight of the top 10 highest-graded defensive backs in the conference.
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