It’s a tale as old as time: college football prospect earns major national media hype once the season ends, but no one talks about him during the season. Enter Indiana‘s Omar Cooper Jr. Cooper has been handpicked by many as a riser in the 2026 NFL Draft, with some even putting him as high as WR3. Are we totally sure that he’s worth the hype?

Let’s talk about it.

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Cooper, a former three-star recruit out of Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, helped his High School win a sectional title, their first since 1990. He would stay in his home state, committing to Indiana, where he would breakout in 2024, nabbing seven touchdowns on just 28 receptions. He would move inside to slot this season, where he would finish with 69 receptions for 937 yards and 13 touchdowns, helping the Hoosiers win their first National Championship.

Omar Cooper is a difficult man to bring down in space. He runs behind his pads, has plus contact balance, and always finds a way to fall forward. His ability to pluck the ball out of the air is fun to watch, as he shows his hands late to make great grabs. Very solid 40 time at the NFL Combine at 4.42, which was not always seen on tape. Love his ability to run block, too, as he never takes a play off and competes through the whistle.

The route-running ability just isn’t totally there. There’s a reason Indiana had him mostly running flats, touch passes, and underneath work. Cooper struggles to really snap his head around when breaking off a route, leaving his defender right in his pocket if he doesn’t have a natural edge. Lacks pure enough strength to work through contact off the line of scrimmage. I’m not sure I love the decision not to test at all at the combine, just run.

We said it at the top that the media always finds one player to overhype heading into draft time, and this year it’s Omar Cooper Jr. Maybe I’m missing something, but the juice isn’t worth the squeeze to take him very high at all. I have him graded in the fourth round, and he is probably closer to WR10 than to WR5.

This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: 2026 NFL Draft scouting report: Omar Cooper Jr., WR, Indiana