A surprising new name has emerged for the New York Jets.
In Daniel Jeremiah’s latest mock draft for NFL.com, he predicted that the Jets would select Indiana wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr with the No. 16 overall pick in the first round.
“Cooper would be an awesome complement to veteran receiver Garrett Wilson. The former Hoosier is a tough pass catcher who can play inside and outside,” Jeremiah wrote.
Cooper, 22, will turn 23 during the 2026 NFL season. He is listed at 6 feet and weighs 199 pounds. Across his four seasons at Indiana, Cooper appeared in 42 games. With those opportunities, he caught 115 passes for 1,798 receiving yards and scored 24 total touchdowns.
Jets Fans Better Get Used to Seeing Cooper as a 1st Round Prospect
Jeremiah slotting Cooper to the Jets with the No. 16 overall pick was a surprise. NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein called Cooper “an ascending slot bully with Day 2 value.”
Day two of the NFL draft consists of the second and third rounds, respectively.
On the consensus big board, Cooper is the 30th-ranked overall prospect and the fifth-ranked wide receiver in the 2026 NFL draft.
NBC Sports analyst Connor Rogers revealed that Cooper’s teammate at Indiana, D’Angelo Ponds, told him at the NFL Combine that Omar has some Davante Adams to his game.
“He said it’s so hard to match those movements off the line of scrimmage because he has a wide array of moves. He’s got this deep release package, but he is such a smooth separator. [Cooper] is smart, he’s got good pound-for-pound strength, he is excellent after the catch, he has the acrobatic body control catches,” Rogers explained on “Badlands.”
“We aren’t acclimated to seeing Cooper at [pick] 16 [overall], but I would suggest people get acclimated because I’m starting to think like the [Carolina] Panthers at [pick] 19 [overall] might be as far as he makes it,” Rogers added.
If the Jets Want a WR, They Might Have to Move Up
NFL draft analyst Drew Beatty told me on “Boy Green Daily” that there isn’t a WR prospect worthy of going No. 2 overall. The Jets don’t pick again until No. 16 overall.
The problem is that there are plenty of teams between pick No. 3 and pick No. 15 that could use a pass catcher.
According to Underdog NFL Draft, 10 of those teams have wide receiver listed as a need:
- Tennessee Titans (pick No. 4)
- New York Giants (pick No. 5)
- Cleveland Browns (pick No. 6)
- Washington Commanders (pick No. 7)
- New Orleans Saints (pick No. 8)
- Kansas City Chiefs (pick No. 9)
- Miami Dolphins (pick No. 11)
- Los Angeles Rams (pick No. 13)
- Baltimore Ravens (pick No. 14)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (pick No. 15)
ESPN’s Field Yates dropped his top-50 big board ahead of the draft. That list included six wide receivers. Three of those top six could very well be selected inside the top-15.
That leaves the Jets with a few options to consider. They could trade up to secure one of those top three pass catchers. Or they could reach for whoever they deem WR4 at pick No. 16 to ensure they get a guy. If they like several of the top wide receivers, they could try to wait and see who falls into their laps at pick No. 33 overall, but that would be risky.
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