Reports of Omar Cooper Jr.'s Jets demise have been greatly exaggerated

One of the biggest storylines for the New York Jets this summer has been the development of first-round wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. and his lack of playing time. To be fair, in New York's preseason opener, it was Isaiah Williams who was on the field with the Jets' starting offense, not Cooper.

It launched a campaign of mass hysteria among fans and fantasy football analysts alike, concerned about the former Indiana standout's path to playing time in his rookie season. Would he really be behind a return specialist in the Jets' wide receiver pecking order?

Well, that narrative has started to fade over the last few weeks. Cooper was on the field with Geno Smith and the rest of the Jets starters last Friday night in Pittsburgh, and the connection between the veteran quarterback and his young pass catcher is seemingly heating up.

The panic around Cooper was always incredibly reactionary, and Jets fans should take solace in the fact that all of the recent reports suggest that the 22-year-old is coming along just fine in his first summer with the Jets.

Omar Cooper Jr. continues to shake off concerns in final New York Jets training camp practice

In the move-the-ball period of Jets practice on Tuesday, ESPN's Rich Cimini shared that the Jets offense went on a "long" scoring drive, where Smith went a perfect 4-for-4 with two completions to Cooper.

Although Williams had been a favorite of the Jets' coaching staff early on in camp, it's starting to seem more and more like Cooper has shown enough to warrant trust from the organization that drafted him.

It was always going to take time for Cooper to come into his own. Wide receiver is one of the hardest positions to transition from college to the pros, and the reigning national champion was surely no different.

Remember when Garrett Wilson was buried on the depth chart behind Corey Davis and Elijah Moore to start the 2022 season? He ended up breaking out in his second NFL game with two touchdown receptions against the Cleveland Browns, including the game-winner.

Now, that's not to say Cooper is Wilson, and it's also not a prediction that the rookie will even eventually surpass Adonai Mitchell on the Jets' pass-catching pecking order, but it's a reminder that we need to have patience with Fernando Mendoza's favorite collegiate target.

Cooper is coming along just fine, regardless of what fantasy football bros try to tell you when projecting what kind of production he'll have in 2026.

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