The Jets traded back into the first round to grab their third player in the opening round, selecting Omar Cooper Jr. with the 30th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Cooper is coming into the NFL Draft as the largest riser of the offseason.
Let's look at the fantasy football outlook for Cooper in New York, both for seasonal leagues and Dynasty formats.
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Omar Cooper Jr. Fantasy Value With the New York Jets
Cooper started his career at Indiana slowly.
As a redshirt freshman in 2023, he had 18 catches for 267 yards and two touchdowns in 2023.
Then, in 2024, he caught only 28 passes but flashed big-play upside, averaging 21.2 yards per catch with 7 touchdowns.
2025 was then the perfect storm, as Cooper turned in 69 receptions for 937 yards and 13 scores.
Cooper had higher efficiency marks than teammate Elijah Surratt, posting 2.55 yards per route run (WR9 in the class) and 2.32 yards per team pass attempt (WR6).
He had the best highlight catch of the year.
Cooper closed his career with Indiana by producing a first down or touchdown on 48.4% of his targets, WR7 in this class.
19.1% of his career receptions resulted in touchdowns, which was second in this draft class.
While we will always take a nose for the end zone, where Cooper made his bank this past season was winning after the catch.
He forced a missed tackle on a class-high 39.1% of his receptions.
Cooper averaged 7.2 yards after the catch (WR8).
He did have more manufactured for him in the Indiana RPO-heavy offense than the previous players of his archetype have.
27.5% of his targets and 31.9% of his receptions were at or behind the line of scrimmage.
At 6’0” and 199 pounds, Cooper shares some overlap with the physical profiles we covered so far with Makai Lemon and KC Concepcion.
Cooper played out wide for only 15.7% of his snaps, which was the fourth-lowest rate in this class.
84% of his yardage came via the slot, while Lemon was at 68.4% and Concepcion was at 30.6%.
That calls into question how much of a perfect storm Cooper ran into in 2025.
He played with the Heisman Trophy winner in an offense tailored to his strengths.
That said, I do believe his 2024 season showcased his scoring ability and per-reception upside.
Not only can Cooper create after the catch, but he was impactful in the running game, which was necessary for Indiana’s scheme.
Cooper had the fifth-highest run-blocking grade this past season, per Pro Football Focus.
Cooper joins Kenyon Sadiq as the second pass catcher added to the offense tonight.
Both players play in a similar area of the field.
Because Sadiq is eligible at a low-bar position for fantasy and was taken ahead of Cooper, I edge to Sadiq for fantasy out of the box.
Cooper is more of a WR4/FLEX for 2026 re-draft purposes and a WR3-plus for Dynasty gamers.
That said, the Jets needed to add wide receiver talent.
Jets wide receivers combined for 156 receptions (27th), 1,586 yards (31st), and 10 touchdowns (25th) in 2025.
And that is much worse after accounting for Garrett Wilson‘s absence.
Wilson led the team with 395 receiving yards on the season, and he played only 19 snaps after Week 6 due to an ongoing knee injury.
Through Week 6, Wilson was third among wide receivers in targets (56), third in receptions (36), fourth in receiving yards (395), and tied for second in touchdowns (4).
Over the final 11 games of the year, New York's wide receivers averaged 9.1 catches (24th) for 90.6 yards (30th) per game with 5 touchdowns (31st).
We will now wait and see how the quarterback situation shakes out for the Jets over the next two days.
The Jets received anemic quarterback play in 2025.
Their quarterbacks combined to rank 31st in the league in rating (75.0), completing 60.3% of their passes (29th), for 5.6 yards per pass attempt (last), 9.3 yards per completion (last), a 3% touchdown rate (30th), and a 2.6% interception rate (25th).
The Jets brought back Geno Smith this offseason as a bridge quarterback, either to help a rookie they pick in this draft or to get them through the season to a future selection at the position.
Smith will be 36 in October, coming off a disastrous runout with the Raiders last season.
Smith was still viable in completing 67.4% of his passes (11th among qualifiers for the league’s passer rating), but he only managed 6.8 yards per attempt (24th), 10.0 yards per completion (29th), a 4.2% touchdown rate (26th), a 3.8% interception rate (31st), and took a sack on a league-high 10.9% of his dropbacks.
To be fair, that is an improvement in many areas over what the Jets received in 2025.