Tarleton State WR Darius Cooper signs with Philadelphia Eagles following 2025 NFL Draft

STEPHENVILLE, Texas - is one of the best players in Tarleton State Football history, and that was solidified further on Saturday as he joined the highest level of professional football.

Cooper signed with the Philadelphia Eagles following the 2025 NFL Draft. He is the 21st player in Tarleton State Football history to sign into the NFL.

Cooper is the fourth Texan over the past three years to sign with an NFL team, joining E.J. Speed (Houston Texans in 2025 and Indianapolis Colts in 2023), Benjie Franklin (Seattle Seahawks in 2023, Jacksonville Jaguars and Green Bay Packers in 2022), and Devin Hafford (New England Patriots in 2022). Since 2018, the Texans have had nine different players sign with an NFL team; Cooper, Franklin, Hafford, Dominique Martin (Green Bay in 2021), Zimari Manning (Denver Broncos in 2020), Speed (also in 2019 with Indianapolis), Tyrell Thompson (Los Angeles Rams in 2019), Xavier Turner (Arizona Cardinals and Seattle in 2019) and Dashaun Phillips (Pittsburgh Steelers in 2018).

Cooper finished his five-year Texan career with one of the best seasons across all of NCAA Division I football. He was a First Team All-American by the Associated Press, Stats Perform, Phil Steele and Football Central, plus was on the Dave Campbell's All-Texas Non-FBS Team as best receiver. Cooper started all 14 games, finishing second across NCAA Division I in receiving yards with 1,450 (second-most in single-season school history) and tied-sixth in touchdowns with 14 (third most in single-season school history; tied for third-most in FCS). He hauled in 76 receptions, a single-season school-record. Cooper racked up at least 110 receiving yards and a touchdown in seven of his last eight games. He tied for the second-most 100-yard receiving games across Division I (seven), leading the FCS. He had four multi-touchdown games and averaged 19.1 yards per catch, the most by a Division I player with over 50 catches.

This past season, Cooper shined in Tarleton State's first FCS Playoffs appearance in its first year eligible. In the first round game against Drake, he turned in a career-best 11 receptions, season-high 190 receiving yards and a touchdown. In the second round at South Dakota, he finished with a career-high three touchdowns on nine catches for 161 yards.

Across his Tarleton State career, Cooper finished with the most receiving yards (3,185), most 100-yard games (14, since at least 1978) and second-most touchdown receptions (29) in Texans' history. He was an All-Conference player in each of the last three seasons, including First Team nods in 2024 and 2022.