First-round draft picks aren’t all expected to contribute in the same way. Some arrive ready to make an immediate impact. Others require patience, development, and a little time before their talent fully reveals itself. The New York Jets knew that when they traded up to select wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. in April.
Still, with only one preseason game remaining before the regular season begins, it’s fair to ask a question that felt almost unthinkable a few months ago. Is it time to be at least a little concerned about Omar Cooper Jr.?
That concern has nothing to do with his roster status. Cooper is making this football team. It also isn’t about his long-term outlook. The Jets remain high on his potential, and nobody should be writing off a first-round rookie before he has played a meaningful NFL snap. The concern stems from something much simpler.
For a player selected in the first round after the Jets traded up to get him, Cooper has been surprisingly invisible. The statistics themselves aren’t alarming. They aren’t necessarily impressive or overwhelming either.
Omar Cooper Jr. hasn’t become a focal point
Through two preseason games, Cooper has caught three passes. His lone reception against the Pittsburgh Steelers went for nine yards. Plenty of future stars have endured quiet Augusts before breaking out when the games began to count. The bigger issue is how rarely Cooper seems to factor into the offense.
Against the Steelers, he started and played the first 11 offensive snaps. That sounds encouraging until you remember he was targeted just once. The week before, he wasn’t exactly a featured weapon either, and he found his way onto the field much later.
If the Jets wanted to make Cooper a centerpiece of the preseason offense, they easily could have. Instead, he has often felt like a complementary piece while players such as Isaiah Williams, Jelani Woods, and others have generated more discussion.
That doesn’t mean Williams is better. It doesn’t mean Cooper was a bad draft pick. It simply means the rookie hasn’t forced himself into the spotlight yet. There is a difference between struggling and being overlooked. At this point, Cooper falls somewhere in the middle. The Jets have shown enough confidence in him to place him alongside the first-team offense. That’s important. Coaches don’t hand those opportunities to players they don’t trust. Then again, they also haven’t shown much urgency to get him involved.
Omar Cooper Jr.’s usage may be more telling than the production
That creates an interesting contradiction. New York traded up for Cooper. The organization clearly views him as an important piece of the future. But through training camp and two preseason games, he hasn’t looked like someone who is about to play a major role in Week 1.
Maybe that’s intentional.
Perhaps Aaron Glenn and Frank Reich are slowly bringing him along while allowing Garrett Wilson, Adonai Mitchell, and other veterans to handle the heavier workload. Maybe the Jets simply believe Cooper is further away than some expected when he was drafted. If that’s the case, there is nothing wrong with admitting it. Not every first-round pick arrives as a finished product.
Still, with one preseason game remaining, Cooper feels more like a developmental project than an immediate contributor. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for his long-term future, but it does raise legitimate questions about what role he will occupy when the regular season begins.
The Jets undoubtedly believe Cooper can become an important part of their offense. The question isn’t whether he has a future in New York. The question is whether that future is arriving as quickly as many expected.
This article originally appeared on Jets Wire:Is it time for the Jets to be concerned about Omar Cooper Jr?
Source: sports.yahoo.com
