With the 188th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Jets selected Miami G Anez Cooper.
"I was very excited," Cooper said. "Waiting around all day can get a little overwhelming. But when I got the call and saw the area code, I was like yeah, perfect."
The Jets moved up to draft Cooper (6-5, 334) following a pick swap with Seattle. Moving up 11 slots in Round 6, GM Darren Mougey sent two picks to the Seahawks – No. 199 overall (Round 6) and No. 242 overall (Round 7). The Jets initially acquired the 199th pick used to land Cooper in their first trade-up on Saturday – a pick swap with the Bengals.
Cooper played almost his entire collegiate career at RG, making 45 starts there for the Hurricanes. He was stationed next to Francis Mauigoa, the younger brother of Jets LB Kiko Mauigoa, who went No. 10 overall to the crosstown Giants.
Cooper played more than 3,000 offensive snaps in college and earned All-ACC honors each of the past three seasons. According to Pro Football Focus, Cooper did not give up any sacks on 816 pass blocking snaps last season. He was one of only six Power 4 guards with 800+ pass blocking snaps to not allow any sacks.
"I feel like [Miami HC Mario] Cristobal did a very good job, the way he prepared us and the way our trenches were made," Cooper said. "I feel like we had NFL trenches at Miami, guys like [Ahkeem] Mesidor (No. 22 overall, LAC) and [Rueben] Bain (No. 15 overall TB), all those guys are first-round guys."
At Miami's pro day, Cooper's measurables included a 34 1/4-inch arm length and 84 1/4-inch wingspan. Cooper, an Alabama native, attended Pleasant Cove HS and was a first-team all-state selection before choosing Miami over multiple other schools. After playing on both the offensive and defensive lines, Cristobal gave him an option in the trenches.
"I didn't like getting double-teamed when I was going through high school," Cooper said. "So when Cristobal asked me which side of the ball I wanted to play when I was getting recruited, I said I thought O-line was better for me because I don't like getting cut blocked and all that. I'd rather do it to somebody than it have done to me."
Mougey has executed four trades this weekend including three move-ups resulting in the selections of WR Omar Cooper Jr. (Rd 1, No. 30), QB Cade Klubnik (Rd 4, No. 110) and Cooper (Rd 6, 188).
Starting with S Burgess Owens, selected 13th overall in the 1973 draft, "the U" has been very good to the Jets. Cooper is the 12th Hurricane beginning with Owens to find his way north to the Jets. Other Green & White contributors from Miami include WR Santana Moss (2001, 16th overall) and LB Jonathan Vilma (2004, 12th overall), plus two 'Canes who joined the Jets from last year's draft: LB Kiko Mauigoa and DE Tyler Baron, both fifth-rounders.
