Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
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The Buffalo Bills need to surround quarterback Josh Allen with the right kind of talent, and they may do that this April.
Among the moves of interest for the Buffalo Bills in the NFL offseason is how the team plans to surround quarterback Josh Allen with the right players to help him thrive during the 2026-27 run. With that in mind, when the NFL draft starts in April 23, you can expect to see the Bills take a serious look at available wide receivers to couple with Allen on the field.
The Buffalo Bills have seven picks in the 2026 NFL draft, and their first is the No. 26 selection in round one. While safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren of Toledo is emerging as an early favorite for the Buffalo Bills’ first pick, don’t discount the available wide receivers in the draft.
Now, one college standout is surfacing as a “player to watch” for the Buffalo Bills, and he’s one who could be dynamite with Allen.
Josh Allen Assistance: Buffalo Bills Could Land Budding Wide Receiver in 2026 NFL Draft
In a Wednesday, April 8 feature for the Bills Wire, Beat reporter Nick Wojton gives a draft profile for Indiana wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. and calls him a “player to watch” for the Buffalo Bills.
“Buffalo is missing their second-round pick, traded for D.J. Moore, but the team picks twice in the fifth round,” Wojton notes on the Bills’ draft climate. “If things hold there, general manager Brandon Beane and the Bills front office could have plenty of options to consider when turning in their selection cards.”
Cooper is 6 feet tall and 199 pounds. His pros, according to the profile, include “strength, yards after catch and versatility.” His cons are “contested catching considered average” and he “could add quickness.”
As for a fun fact, Cooper’s father, Omar, played basketball at Louisiana Tech and was a wide receiver coach at Lawrence North High School, according to NFL research. So, sports is in the family.
Budding Wide Receiver Would Be a ‘Strong Target’ for Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills
Cooper’s NFL profile says that he’s a “big, strong target whose two-year rise is bolstered by translatable tape. While he was a full-time slot receiver in 2025, Cooper has played outside, as well.”
Cooper is able to “stem and drive past press with his strength,” which is good, and “he has potent early acceleration to climb past nickelbacks into top position to challenge deep.”
On the downside, the player’s “routes lack polish and he has average in-and-out quickness at break-points,” but on the upside, “he’s rugged once the ball is in his hands.” Also, Cooper’s “ability to add yards after contact” could snag him “more carries than we saw from him at Indiana.” Of course, Indiana won the championship, so there’s that bonus, too.
Meanwhile, the NFL’s mock draft shared on Monday, April 7, has the Bills going with aforementioned safety McNeil-Warren out of Toledo for their first pick.
“The Bills signed C.J. Gardner-Johnson in free agency,” Rhett Lewis of the NFL Networks states in the feature, “but pairing the rangy, playmaking safety McNeil-Warren with 2024 second-round pick Cole Bishop gives the Bills a long-term vision of the position.”