Philadelphia, PA – June 20, 2025
Forget everything you thought you knew about evaluating rookie cornerbacks. In Philadelphia, interceptions don’t matter — not when Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell are locking down everything in sight without even needing to touch the football.
During minicamp and OTAs, the Eagles' two rookie corners have made one thing crystal clear: they don’t need flashy stats to dominate. While fans across the league obsess over picks, highlight grabs, and turnover totals, Philly’s newest shutdown duo is playing a more advanced game — eliminating passing windows before quarterbacks even make a decision.
“They’re just... suffocating,” one team source told Inside the Iggles. “Receivers aren’t even getting the ball thrown their way. That tells you everything.”
The lack of interceptions might worry stat-watchers, but the coaching staff isn’t blinking. The Eagles are seeing something even more valuable — consistency, anticipation, and total disruption of route timing. Veteran WRs in camp have been forced to recalibrate their timing, as DeJean and Mitchell continue to erase reps before they begin.
And the respect is growing league-wide. As PFF noted in a recent report, both corners have graded exceptionally well in man and zone schemes — even without logging a single pick.
“They’re playing like seasoned vets,” one AFC scout said. “Ball production will come, but what they’re doing right now is smarter and harder — they’re ending plays before they start.”
This development couldn’t come at a better time for the Eagles, who were criticized for their defensive inconsistency last year. With a rebuilt secondary and these two rookies emerging as instant impact players, Philadelphia may not just be good — they may be terrifying.
The “no-pick panic” is dead. DeJean and Mitchell are showing that the future of elite cornerback play in Philly doesn’t require gaudy stats — just pure dominance.
One-Line Summary:
Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell are locking down receivers so completely that interceptions don’t even matter — and the Eagles know it.