Jets quietly put a lot of faith in Omar Cooper Jr. after roster cuts

Even before the New York Jets officially opened training camp in July, all signs had long since pointed to Garrett Wilson and Adonai Mitchell being the top two receivers.

Rookie wideout and No. 30 pick Omar Cooper Jr. fell under the radar, and not necessarily by his own doing. Mitchell and Isaiah Williams spent the offseason emerging as legitimate breakout candidates, and the latter is widely expected to share reps with Cooper as the Jets’ No. 3 receiver against the Titans on Sunday.

Typically, that’d raise questions about the Jets’ faith in Cooper, though such concerns would be heavily misguided. You might not have noticed it, but Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey recently — and quietly — demonstrated just how much they believe in their newest receiver.

New York Jets fans should have high hopes for Omar Cooper Jr. in Week 1

We’ve become subscribers to the idea that if a team wanted to do something, then it’d have done it. In the case of Cooper and the Jets’ receivers, notice how the team was never linked to someone like Cedric Tillman or Van Jefferson as either a practice-squad option or a depth body following final cuts.

That’s not to say that Tillman, Jefferson, or Jalin Hyatt represent better options than Cooper. Far from it, in fact. But there was never any doubt throughout training camp and the preseason that the Jets view the ex-Hoosiers standout as someone they believe can contribute in some form this year.

Of course, you’d want the Jets to have faith in Cooper, given that they traded back into the first round to swipe him at No. 30. They could have easily stayed put at No. 34 and waited to see whether the Indiana native was still on the board.

But hoping is far different from reality, as Jets fans have learned firsthand with the team’s many attempts to land a franchise quarterback. Considering their strength of schedule and the 16-year playoff drought, few would have blamed Mougey if he pursued a potential No. 3 receiver amid final cuts. Improving from 3-14 to 5-12 is not enough to constitute success for a perennially rebuilding organization.

Cooper didn’t make a ton of noise during training camp and the preseason, though he had a 26-yard catch-and-run against the Buccaneers last month. Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Cooper said the lack of targets is the “nature of football.” 

“You could win every route and maybe you’re not designed to get the ball, or maybe your quarterback sees something and throws somewhere else,” Cooper explained. “But it just helps you to know that there’s still more games; the league is 20 [games] minimum, counting [the] preseason.”

Cooper also announced that he’ll wear No. 11, which he wore in high school, rather than the No. 83 he wore during the summer. Not that Mougey or Glenn likely cares so long as the end result is a winning season. 

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