Inside Omar Cooper Jr.'s Indiana Football Breakout: 'Just Scratching the Surface'

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Omar Cooper Jr. wasn’t Indiana football’s first choice at slot receiver, and moving inside from his more homely perch outside wasn’t Cooper’s preference, either.

Fate brought them together despite their best wishes.

Cooper played only 40 snaps in the slot in 2024, as now-NFL players Ke’Shawn Williams and Myles Price dominated playing time inside while Cooper paired with Elijah Sarratt at wide receiver.

When Williams and Price moved on after last season, the Hoosiers turned to the transfer portal for reinforcements, adding Michigan’s Tyler Morris and Appalachian State’s Makai Jackson. Morris suffered a torn ACL midway through spring practice, while Jackson tweaked his hamstring before the fourth practice and didn't return until the fall. He’s now in the transfer portal.

The Hoosiers tried everything — and almost everyone — to fill the void in the slot for the rest of the spring. Apart from sophomore Charlie Becker, every receiver on the roster took snaps inside.

Indiana’s coaches chose Cooper during fall camp.

“Cooper just seemed the most comfortable,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said Monday.

The news wasn’t exactly music to Cooper’s ears.

“At first, I didn't want to play slot,” Cooper said Tuesday. “But I'm actually glad they made that decision.”

Cooper’s mindset shifted during fall camp, when he decided to embrace moving inside. He didn’t have much of a choice.

“I was like, ‘I just got to do what I can do at this position,’” Cooper said.

Through eight weeks, he’s flourished. The redshirt junior is second on the team behind Sarratt with 37 receptions for 581 yards and seven touchdowns, and he’s top six in the Big Ten in all three categories.

Among FBS receivers with at least 20 targets this season, Cooper is tied for the fourth-best offensive grade at 87.6 and has the 10th-best receiving grade at 85.4, according to Pro Football Focus. And among 129 receivers with at least 40 targets, Cooper, who’s been targeted 45 times this season, has an 82.2% catch rate, the sixth-best mark in the FBS.

Cooper has only one drop this season — in the season-opener against Old Dominion — and has emerged as a dependable target for Indiana redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza.

The 6-foot, 204-pound Cooper has also been amongst the most dynamic run-after-catch players in the nation. He’s ninth nationally with 315 yards after the catch and he’s tied for 11th with 13 missed tackles forced, according to PFF.

“I just think what you're seeing from him, he's older, more mature, he's a veteran now,” Cignetti said. “He sees what's out there. He's just becoming a lot more consistent and explosive. He's a hard tackle.”

Consistency is perhaps the most telling compliment Cignetti gave Cooper, because he wouldn’t have used it last season.

Cooper, one of the relatively few offensive holdovers from Indiana’s previous coaching staff, broke out in 2024. Though he ranked fifth on the team with 28 catches, he was second in both receiving yards (594) and receiving touchdowns (seven). Among qualified pass-catchers, he led the Big Ten with 21.2 yards per reception, according to College Football Reference.

Cignetti noted Cooper impressed last season with his explosiveness and big-play potential. But as the season progressed, Cignetti said on his Sept. 18 radio show Cooper too often wasn’t on the field when Indiana needed him.

“Was just looking for a little bit more play-in, play-out, day-in, day-out consistency from him,” Cignetti said. “Guys have to be sort of dependable. When you're planning throughout the week and you want to get a guy the ball, you got to know he's going to be out there.

“And there were a couple times near the end of the year where he went out for a few plays with an injury here or there and maybe be on the sideline. (I’m like), ‘Where's Cooper?’ Because we called his number.”

Cooper took it upon himself to change his mindset.

“I would come out to practice sometimes lazy or sometimes feeling like I just didn't want to be there or my body's tired, so I let that affect how I practice,” Cooper said. “Just knowing this is all a blessing. Some people don't get this opportunity, so I've got to take it as that and make sure I'm going hard each and every day at my practice because you never know what could happen.”

An hour and a half prior to Indiana’s 38-13 win over Michigan State on Oct. 18, Cooper knelt in the Northwest corner of Memorial Stadium and prayed for several minutes. Over the next five hours, he delivered the best Big Ten performance of his career, catching eight passes for 113 yards and a touchdown.

Before he touches the field each day at practice, he recites a bible verse from Colossians 3:23, which tells to work heartily for the Lord and not for man. Cooper said it helps push him to the next level.

Faith, Cooper said, is how he re-wired his brain and built the dependability Cignetti felt he lacked last season. It was an important step in rounding out the skill set of a player who’d long been capable of reaching such heights.

Indiana left tackle Carter Smith was part of the Hoosiers’ 2022 recruiting class with Cooper. Smith enrolled in the spring of 2022 while Cooper joined the team in the summer.

Cooper played only four games in 2022. He didn’t catch any passes, but he returned four kicks for 63 yards while getting his bearings at the college level. He made a strong impression on Smith, who noticed early in 2022 that Cooper had the tools to develop into the player he’s proving to be.

“He's always been a player that stood out to me. Right when he got here, he kind of popped out to me,” Smith said Tuesday. “His speed, the way he's able to break off of corners and find an open pocket for someone to throw it to him. I think he's really good at reading a defense and finding those areas where they're not covering.”

When Cignetti and his coaching staff arrived in the winter of 2023, Cooper was still searching for his role. He flashed in nine appearances in 2023, headlined by a 101-yard performance against Indiana State in Week 2, an acrobatic catch against Michigan in Week 7 and back-to-back weeks with touchdowns near season’s end against Rutgers and Penn State.

Now, Cooper is seasoned and experienced — he’s played in 33 games and made 13 starts — and thriving in the slot.

“I think he's really taken to it because he's getting more opportunities,” Cignetti said in September. “When you play outside at left or right, there's a 50-50 chance you get the ball if the ball goes outside. But when that ball goes into the slot, you're getting all of them.

“And I think as he's gotten more balls, you've seen his whole performance sort of develop momentum, positive momentum and confidence. I really like the way he's progressing.”

Cooper enjoys the variability that exists in the slot. His route tree is more expansive, which he feels has unlocked his skill set.

“It allows my game to be more open and evolved,” Cooper said.

The Indianapolis native still spends time on the perimeter, though to a much smaller degree. He’s played 296 snaps inside to just 72 outside this season, according to Pro Football Focus. Cignetti said Indiana moves Cooper to wide receiver in 12 personnel, when it has only two receivers on the field, though he can stick outside in three-receiver sets, too.

Cooper pairs with Sarratt to form one of the nation’s best receiver duos. Mendoza feels both players will ultimately play in the NFL.

Sarratt is known more as a reliable chains-mover. He’s tied for the FBS lead with 34 first-down catches, and Cooper admitted Sarratt is better at using his body and adjusting to back-shoulder passes.

Cooper has earned the reputation as Indiana’s explosive playmaker. Cooper has four catches this season on passes greater than 20 yards downfield with an average depth of target at 36.2 yards, according to PFF, a nod to his speed and vertical presence.

“He's a little more explosive than me, I'll say that. I ain't scared to admit it,” Sarratt said. “He's real explosive. He does some things where you see it, and you're like, ‘Bro, how'd you do that?’ He does it on a regular basis.

“I expect great things out of Coop every single time he's out on the field, and he comes to play every single time.”

Cignetti, who coached receivers at Alabama from 2007-10, said in September he “really like(s) Cooper a lot.” The Lawrence North High School product has “a lot of talent,” Cignetti acknowledged.

Cooper’s talent is showing. Indiana didn’t have a slot receiver at the end of spring practice. Now, the Hoosiers have one of college football’s best. The only question now, Sarratt implied, is for how much longer.

“It's cool because he's just scratching the surface of what he could be,” Sarratt said. “I see him playing on the next level for sure. As long as he keeps doing what he's doing, he's going to continue to be great.”