Indiana Football Makes History with Two First-Round NFL Draft Picks: Fernando Mendoza and Omar Cooper Selected

Indiana football made history on Thursday night as two of its players were selected in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft for the first time in program history.

Quarterback Fernando Mendoza was selected first overall by the Las Vegas Raiders, marking the highest draft pick in Indiana football history. Shortly after, wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. Was chosen by the New York Jets with the 30th overall pick following a trade that sent the Jets’ second-round pick and a compensatory fifth-round selection to the San Francisco 49ers.

Mendoza and Cooper Jr. Became the fourth quarterback-receiver duo from the same school to win a national championship and both be selected in the first round of the same NFL Draft. They join Deshaun Watson and Mike Williams (Clemson, 2017), Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase (LSU, 2020), and Mac Jones and DeVonta Smith (Alabama, 2021) in achieving this distinction.

Their connection was instrumental during Indiana’s undefeated 16-0 season, which culminated in a College Football Playoff national championship. Cooper Jr. Led the Hoosiers in receiving with 69 catches for 937 yards and 13 touchdowns, earning second-team All-Big Ten honors. His standout moment came in a November victory over Penn State, where he made a game-winning toe-tap touchdown catch in the final seconds.

For Cooper Jr., the selection represents a homecoming of sorts. The Indianapolis native played his high school football in the area before joining Indiana, where he developed into one of the nation’s top receivers during his breakout 2025 season. He will now join an established receiving corps in New York that includes Garrett Wilson and Adonai Mitchell, working under new quarterback Geno Smith.

The Jets’ move to select Cooper Jr. Marked the first time since 2022 that the team used three picks in the first round of a single draft. In 2022, New York selected Sauce Gardner fourth Garrett Wilson 10th, and Jermaine Johnson 15th.

With Mendoza and Cooper Jr. Both hearing their names called in the opening round, Indiana football achieved a milestone that had eluded the program since its last first-round selection in 1994. The dual selections underscore the impact of the Hoosiers’ recent success and signal a new era for player development in Bloomington.