POD Community Mock: With the 31st pick, the Patriots select…

Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. (3) makes a catch for a touchdown Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, during the Peach Bowl and semifinal game of the College Football Playoff against the Oregon Ducks at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. | Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The New England Patriots are back, much to everyone’s chagrin.

The post-Bill Belichick era was looking refreshingly bleak in Foxborough, but with Mike Vrabel at the helm, the team saw a sudden resurgence all the way to the Super Bowl last year.

Now, as we approach Pick 31 in our Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft, it’s up to commenter Lions89 to get the Patriots over the top and get them a Super Bowl.

Before we get to the selection, head to our 2026 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft tracker. There you’ll find the previous 30 picks, along with links to each article and a grade for each pick, as decided by you, the readers. Don’t forget to cast your vote for each pick with the poll at the bottom of the articles.

Now, onto this pick:

With the 31st pick in the 2026 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft, the New England Patriots select Omar Cooper Jr., wide receiver out of Indiana.

Here’s Lions89 explaining the pick:

The ideal use of this pick is shipping it off on draft day to acquire AJ Brown. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll see the Philly star reading on the sidelines of Foxborough, at least for the rumored asking price of a 1+3.

Despite New England finding themselves in the Super Bowl this year, they have a surprising amount of holes. They’re currently taking the Green Bay approach to WR with 5 WR2/3s on the roster, (Welcome Doubs) and no clear cut #1. There’s depth holes all along the defense with players leaving. Not to mention aging talent at RT and TE, so we certainly have some options with this pick.

The way this board fell, I’m happy to find Omar Cooper Jr. Many mocks you’d see him taken between 16-29, so this feels like the steal of the draft. A potential YAC king, we’d probably find Omar starting out in the slot where he thrived his senior year. He does have the versatility to play outside, if Doubs underperforms as well. At 6-foot, 200 pounds, we’re looking at a rich man’s version of Jayden Reed (sorry Sparty). I have my concerns here with the lack of college production until his senior year, and there’s a fine line between “versatile” and “tweener” that he walks. However, we need a high potential player in New England, a team that has enough WR busts to make Matt Millen blush. I think he has the traits to develop into a nice weapon, with significant upside.

Time to grade the pick. Vote in the poll below and share your expanded thoughts in the comment section: