The Pittsburgh Steelers entered the offseason with a couple of major needs. They addressed one of them by trading for WR Michael Pittman Jr. at the start of the league year. However, one wide receiver does not fix all the issues at the position.
The Steelers have WR DK Metcalf, Pittman, and then a few unproven players in Ben Skowronek (primarily a special teamer) and Roman Wilson. That’s why NFL.com’s Charles Davis has the Steelers taking Indiana WR Omar Cooper Jr. in his latest mock draft.
“The Steelers’ receiving corps got a boost from the acquisition of Michael Pittman Jr. from Indianapolis, but why stop there?” Davis wrote.
Why stop there, indeed. Omar Cooper Jr. caught 69 passes for 937 yards (13.6 yards per catch) and 13 touchdowns in 2025. For his career, he caught 115 passes for 1,178 yards (15.6 YPC) and 22 touchdowns. He’s also shown plenty of versatility, playing over 360 snaps in the slot and as an outside receiver. The Steelers met with Cooper at the NFL Combine, and according to insider Gerry Dulac, the Steelers’ interest in him is real.
The interest seems to be mutual. While at the Combine, Cooper talked to the media about potentially playing alongside Metcalf.
“I feel like me and him would be able to complement each other really well,” Cooper said. “DK Metcalf is a really great player, and so just being able to learn from him and grow, I feel like that’d help my football career a lot. And just to see how special of an athlete he is, it’s been fun to watch him.”
Our own Alex Kozora went through Omar Cooper Jr.’s tape, and he came away impressed.
“He won’t fly by cornerbacks, but his technical route running, strong hands, and post-catch ability all make him a threat,” Kozora wrote. “My favorite receiver is an open one and Cooper does that at a high level.”
New Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy runs an offensive scheme with roots heavily tied to the West Coast offense. That style of offense needs wide receivers who can get open quickly. That’s what Kozora saw on the tape. He saw an ability to beat cornerbacks in press coverage at the line, as well as burst to win during the route.
Omar Cooper Jr. was the fourth wide receiver off the board in the first round in Davis’ mock draft. Davis had Ohio State WR Carnell Tate going sixth overall to the Cleveland Browns, Arizona State WR Jordyn Tyson ninth to the New Orleans Saints, and USC WR Makai Lemon 19th to the Carolina Panthers.
Also of note, Davis mocked Alabama QB Ty Simpson third overall to the Arizona Cardinals. This comes not long after analyst Dan Orlovsky said that he thinks Simpson is the top quarterback in the draft. Davis didn’t quite go that far, keeping Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza going first overall to the Las Vegas Raiders. It’s quite interesting to see Simpson going so high, though.
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