The shiny new toy is always tempting, but are fantasy football managers actually wise to ignore Omar Cooper Jr.?
That’s not an approach I’d normally suggest for an athlete with first-round draft capital backing him, but his profile is complicated at best. Plus, the wide receiver position is deep enough that you can avoid this risk if you prefer.
Should You Draft Omar Cooper Jr. in Fantasy Football?
First things first: this is a very good player. He scored 13 times on 69 catches last season at Indiana, finishing his collegiate career with a touchdown on 19.1% of his receptions — a figure that highlights his dominance over the competition.
He profiles as a versatile weapon who can be moved around the formation and adapt to whatever is asked of him.
That’s all great, but most receivers are at the mercy of their offensive situation to some degree, and that’s where I lose confidence in Cooper giving us anything meaningful in 2026.
START PREPARING: PFN’s FREE Fantasy Mock Draft Simulator
We know that Geno Smith is a Band-Aid quarterback and that there is no golden child waiting in the wings. Cade Klubnik was drafted in the fourth round in April, and while maybe he’s the long-term answer, he was ordinary at Clemson last season. Given how signal-callers are valued in this league, anyone who falls outside of the top 50 picks — never mind the top 100 — must be considered a project at best.
We also know that Garrett Wilson is one of the more talented receivers in the league (earning over 145 targets in each of his three healthy seasons) and will be the first read with regularity this year.
Cooper’s Redraft Fantasy Football Value
All of that means that unless you think Cooper is poised to take Wilson’s WR1 role or you’re high on Klubnik’s Year 1 upside, you’re counting on Smith providing value to a minimum of two pass-catchers on a regular basis.
History says that’s a poor bet.
Over the past two seasons — across 32 appearances and more than 1,000 throws with the Seahawks and Raiders — how many times do you think multiple wide receivers reached 15.5 PPR points on balls thrown by Smith? I’ll wait.
I’m buying you time to actually think about it and guess. That Seattle team had Jaxon Smith-Njigba, DK Metcalf, and Tyler Lockett. The Vegas team wasn’t nearly as deep, but Jakobi Meyers was there for half a season, and two receivers with nice draft capital invested in them (Tre Tucker and Jack Bech) were healthy throughout.
FANTASY RANKINGS: PFN’s FREE Fantasy PPR, Half-PPR, and Non-PPR Rankings
Once. It happened once (Week 2 of 2024: JSN and Metcalf).
Only nine times over that stretch did a WR2 reach double-digit fantasy points. If we are going to label 10 points as a successful week for Cooper, what good is that? DJ Moore averaged 10 PPG a season ago, which positioned him as WR41 for the year — very much a fantasy afterthought.
Wilson missing time would change the equation, but with availability being a strength of his prior to last season, I’m not banking on it. That keeps Cooper off my redraft radar, even at an ADP that isn’t all that expensive.
Preseason Fantasy WR Rankings
- Ja’Marr Chase | CIN
- Puka Nacua | LAR
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba | SEA
- Amon-Ra St. Brown | DET
- Drake London | ATL
- Justin Jefferson | MIN
- CeeDee Lamb | DAL
- Nico Collins | HOU
- A.J. Brown | NE
- Malik Nabers | NYG
- George Pickens | DAL
- Chris Olave | NO
- Rashee Rice | KC
- Zay Flowers | BAL
- Jaylen Waddle | DEN
- Tee Higgins | CIN
- DeVonta Smith | PHI
- Ladd McConkey | LAC
- Terry McLaurin | WAS
- Emeka Egbuka | TB
- Tetairoa McMillan | CAR
- Garrett Wilson | NYJ
- Jameson Williams | DET
- Christian Watson | GB
- Luther Burden III | CHI
- Rome Odunze | CHI
- Parker Washington | JAX
- Carnell Tate | TEN
- DJ Moore | BUF
- Marvin Harrison Jr. | ARI
- Davante Adams | LAR
- Brian Thomas Jr. | JAX
- Quentin Johnston | LAC
- Mike Evans | SF
- Stefon Diggs | WAS
- Michael Wilson | ARI
- DK Metcalf | PIT
- Jakobi Meyers | JAX
- Josh Downs | IND
- Michael Pittman Jr. | PIT
- Jayden Reed | GB
- Courtland Sutton | DEN
- Wan’Dale Robinson | TEN
- Chris Godwin Jr. | TB
- Alec Pierce | IND
- Makai Lemon | PHI
- Jordan Addison | MIN
- De’Zhaun Stribling | SF
- Khalil Shakir | BUF
- Romeo Doubs | NE
