It's hard to watch your NFL Draft crushes succeed on other teams, but especially for the Green Bay Packers fan base with defensive back Cooper DeJean.
The Packers had a number of opportunities to come away from the 2024 NFL Draft with DeJean, a projected first-round pick who lasted to the second round, but they failed to bring him in. Every passing week last season felt like it was complete torture for Green Bay fans as DeJean made one big play after another, but it reached a boiling point with his pick-six off of Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl.
Thankfully for the Packers and their fans, time heals all wounds, and the play of second-year defensive back Javon Bullard has everyone wondering, "Who is Cooper DeJean?"
Javon Bullard is wiping away Packers fans' remorse over not drafting Cooper DeJean
It was completely understandable for Packers fans to be upset about the team missing out on DeJean in last year's draft. The guy is a physical freak of nature. He can play multiple positions in the defensive backfield, and he is capable of making game-changing plays in the return game as well.
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Instead of getting DeJean, the Packers came away from last year's second round with defensive back Javon Bullard and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper.
Once again, time heals all wounds.
Over the course of time, we've started to really see the vision for Cooper and Bullard unfold, especially in recent weeks with Bullard. He's been playing in the slot for Jeff Hafley's defense, and he's been fantastic. His yards per target allowed have gone down from 8.5 last season to 5.6 this season. He's improved in pretty much every metric, and has been proving his "dawg" status every single week by flying to the football and playing physical.
"I think Bull is one of our most valuable players," said Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. "I think the world of the guy. He's hard to take off the field. I believe someone was asking the other day, 'Why do you put him here? Why do you put him there?' Because he's a guy that really deserves never to come off the field."
"If you get guys like Bull, you're going to win."
The Eagles knew they had to jump up for DeJean in last year's draft. There's no denying he's a special player, and nobody is saying Bullard has already proven himself to be better than DeJean, by any means. But with the way Bullard has played lately, you can absolutely relax a little bit knowing the Packers came away from last year's draft with some foundational pieces for the defense.
Not only did they get Cooper and Bullard in the second round, but fourth-round pick Evan Williams has become a staple for the defense as well.
The emergence of Bullard this season feels like a bit of vindication for general manager Brian Gutekunst, and another feather in the cap for defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. The energy and physicality he's been playing with are infectious, and his emergence has been huge for the Green Bay defense this season.