Film Profile | Analytical Profile Prospect Information College: Indiana Height/Weight: 6'0"/199 Hands: 9 5/8" Age: 22 (at the time of the 2026 season opener) Important NFL Combine/Pro Day Numbers 40-Yard Dash: 4.42 Vertical Jump: 37" Broad Jump: N/A 20-Yard Shuttle: N/A 3-Cone: N/A College Production ( Stats ) Profiles similar to: Reggie Wayne Plays similar to: Jarvis Landry Position-Specific Attributes and Grades Attribute Grade Ball Tracking 7.5 (10) Contested Catch/Body Control 9.0 (10) Hands 8.0 (10) Release 8.0 (10) Route-Running 7.5 (10) Run After Catch 9.5 (10) Physicality/Competitiveness 7.5 (8) Separation 4.5 (6) Speed 3.0 (4) Blocking 2.0 (2) Film Grade 66.5 (80) Note: my usual format (citing examples for each attribute) does not display well on the site. Please click this link to access them. Positives All anyone needs to know about his contested-catch ability and body control can be summed up with one play ( this game-winner against Penn State). Solidly built and displays the kind of contact balance and tackle-breaking ability expected from a running back; 27 forced missed tackles ranked fourth among FBS wide receivers last season. Welcomes contact and is unafraid to work over the middle of the field. A couple of focus drops on easy downfield throws in 2025 should not overshadow the times he made spectacular catches on passes thrown behind him or outside of his frame. Stepped up in several intangible areas after head coach Curt Cignetti questioned his dependability and consistency following the 2024 season. Has some work to do on technique, but he was trusted enough as a blocker that he served as a lead blocker quite a bit (in motion or as a wing). Negatives Did he mature in 2025 or put on a good face for the league? (Refer to earlier mention of Cignetti questioning his dependability and consistency.) Screen merchant; 23 of his 69 catches in 2025 came off screen passes, while only eight came on deeper throws. (He was surprisingly good at double moves on the few occasions he was asked to run them, but 78 of his 91 targets last season came on screens, outs or hitches.) Very little suddenness or urgency on his shorter routes. (How much polish does he need as a route-runner?) Built well enough to be more than a slot-only player in the NFL, but 83.3% of his snaps, 80% of his catches and 84.2% of his receiving yardage came from the slot in 2025. Little evidence of him being able to track the ball well due to a lack of vertical routes, but he did not usually adjust to underthrown passes quickly enough on the few opportunities he had. Finished eight games with three or fewer catches in 2025; 22% of his receiving yards, 14.9% of his catches and 31% of his touchdowns came in one game (10-207-4 versus Indiana State). Bottom Line Even though the pro game is more like the college game than it probably ever has been (certainly in the Super Bowl era), it will almost always be a challenge to evaluate receivers who enter the league with a limited route tree like the one Cooper was asked to run in 2025. It makes sense why Indiana featured him on screens so much; his ability to force missed tackles and run-after-catch skills are about as good as any receiver's in this draft. He averaged nearly eight yards per catch on a pass play that has about a 90-95% chance of being completed. Unfortunately, it is hard to truly evaluate a wideout when nearly 86% of his targets came as a result of running three of the simplest routes in football: screens, outs and hitches. Cooper's potential downside has mostly to do with how much his 2025 season was a realistic view of what he is. He is certainly big enough and strong enough to be a perimeter receiver (which he was most of the time over his first two seasons), but can a raw route-runner get by mostly on strength and physicality on the outside in the NFL? His ability to track the ball and put his 4.4 speed to use as a downfield threat is also a question mark (he was 5-for-18 on go routes in 2025). With that said, it is not difficult to see how Cooper could contribute early in the NFL: let him go to work on any short route that allows him to put his run-after-catch ability on display. What he will likely be right away is what he was for the Hoosiers in 2025: a power slot who is going to give his team free yards while also usually making a difference as a blocker in the running game. Cooper is not exactly a developmental receiver because he is already very good at what he was asked to do last year, but there is a lot he will be asked to do in the NFL that he did not do very much in college. There is a world where Cooper enjoys the same kind of success that Landry did in the NFL, but much of that will depend on whether the maturity he showed in 2025 is the new normal for him. This article originally appeared on The Huddle: Omar Cooper Jr. NFL Draft Profile - Rookie Film Analysis