If you have kept up with College Football at all this season, you know about the incredible jump Indiana’s football program has made since hiring Curt Cignetti. Indiana has only finished the season ranked in the top 25 seven times in their program’s history, and is about to do it for their second year in a row. The Hoosiers brought in Cignetti the same year that the CFB playoff expanded to 12 teams, and since his hire, Indiana has made the playoffs in each of his first two years.
Cignetti has completely transformed the Hoosiers’ program and bred a tight-knit, highly competitive environment. This season, Indiana has taken another massive step in the right direction, qualifying for the Big Ten championship and ranking #2 in the nation. Much of this success has been credited to star quarterback Fernando Mendoza and coach Cignetti, but the Hoosiers’ success runs much deeper.
Indiana has the highest-scoring offense in the Power Four, and its offense is loaded with NFL talent. At wide receiver, the Hoosiers likely have two NFL-caliber prospects in Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr, who have proven to be some of the best catchers in the nation. I have already written about Indina’s star running back, Roman Hemby, and now I wanted to talk about the WR duo that has taken college football by storm.
Starting with Omar Cooper Jr., who currently comes in as my seventh-best reciever in the 2026 draft. Below, I have included my current analysis of Cooper in our WR rankings…
“Cooper is the speedster who is both a serious threat down the field as well as a run-after-catch star who is more than capable of creating plays with the ball in space. What separates Cooper from the rest of the bunch is his traits. Most gadget guys are under six feet and under 200 pounds, but Cooper hits both of those marks, something that gives promise to his ability to also play on the outside in the NFL. Cooper has been used in so many different ways for Indiana in his career, and that versatility will be something NFL teams fall in love with when watching his film.”
Cooper will almost certainly wind up on the “my guys” list by the end of the season, as I have him graded significantly higher than the rest of the NFL draft community. In general, I have mostly seen Cooper graded as an early-day three prospect in the 150-200 range, but I have him sitting just outside my Top 50, and he is someone I would gladly take on day two.
Cooper has an all-around skill set that NFL coaches are looking for in the modern NFL, and his ability to line up in several spots and run a wide variety of routes will be appealing. You will struggle to find many flaws in Cooper’s game, something that makes him the ideal WR 2 in the NFL. Playcallers will love having the ability to move Cooper around to give defenses different looks and keep defenses off balance as they try to keep up with all the things Cooper is capable of doing.
On the other hand, Elijah Sarratt sits just outside my top 20 WRs, but will more than likely move up as some players begin to return to school. Sarratt is the more traditional of the two, with a true outside receiver’s frame and all the skills teams look for in an NFL pass catcher. Sarratt may not possess the elite traits that catch your eye with some other top receivers, but he does bring consistency and reliability on the outside.
He has excellent hands and solid route-running, and is one of those do-it-all players that every team could use in its lineup. Reliability is the name of the game for Sarratt, and while he may not have the blazing speed or elite physicality, he brings consistency that teams are looking for on the outside. Sarratt may never be an elite athlete, but he has an excellent feel for the game and is exactly what NFL teams are looking for out of a depth reciever.
Sarratt will not blow people away at the combine, but he plays much faster than he actually is, and he can separate with a wide range of outside routes. He has elite body control, especially on back shoulder fades, where he is incredibly effective along the goal line. I like what I have seen from Sarratt, and I think that if he is given the proper role on an NFL team, he will have a long and successful career.
If you get a chance, watch the film for the Indiana offense so you can see for yourself what makes these two prospects so special. The 2026 NFL draft will be won and lost by each team’s ability to draft and develop talent from the later rounds. Both of these guys will likely be available on Day Two, and both very well could be available on Day Three as well.
Omar Cooper is someone I think can be a star, and if he slips into day three, he could be the steal of the draft. Surratt is a quality player who I think is more than capable of being an impact rotation reciever with the potential to develop into a high-quality Z WR in the NFL. Cooper and Surratt are very different reciever prospects, but they both have NFL skills and, in the hands of the right coach, could have long, prosperous NFL careers.
