Dashed line: 100 yards.
Jalen Cooper
Jalen Cooper is on trial in SMU's fan jury — the eye test against the résumé.
4★ · NATIONAL RECRUIT
No.154
recruiting national rank
SMU fans keep putting the player's case on trial, week to week.
Minority viewA vocal minority sees it the other way.
AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-11-04
Play style
Moves the chains on third down.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Against Syracuse on Oct. 31: 5 catches for 53 yards, 1 of 2 on third and fourth down. In the 7 games drawn here: 23 catches for 318 yards. SMU has thrown to him 34 times in 229 passes.
Each game is split into its four quarters, so the columns line up from game to game; inside a quarter, plays keep their order. Third and fourth downs are marked under the line, bold when he moved the chains.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Last game (Wk 9): 53 receiving yards, 5 catches.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 8 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 27-24@ Florida State | 4 | 71 | 17.8 | 1 | 50 | |
| Wk 2 | W 56-10vs UC Davis | 1 | 42 | 42.0 | 0 | 42 | |
| Wk 3 | L 31-41@ No. 23 Louisville | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 | |
| Wk 4 | W 34-24vs Missouri State | 8 | 125 | 15.6 | 0 | 32 | Season-high 125 yds |
| Wk 5 | W 25-16vs Boston College | 5 | 45 | 9.0 | 0 | 16 | |
| Wk 7 | W 23-13vs Virginia | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wk 8 | W 59-20vs California | 2 | 37 | 18.5 | 0 | 35 | |
| Wk 9 | L 27-30@ Syracuse | 5 | 53 | 10.6 | 0 | 25 | |
| Total | 27 | 389 | 14.4 | 1 | 50 |
Week 1 · 2026
W 27-24
4 rec · 71 yds · 1 TD
A close one, won by 3 on the road.
With K. Jennings — 430 yds · 3 TD · 2 INT · QBR 95.6 · 33 rush yds (5 car) · D. Green — 43 rush yds (13 car) · 2 rec · 35 yds
The plays that mattered most
157th in receiving yards, among all 2,086 FBS players with a receiving row this season, any position
Ratings of the games shown run from -17 to +12 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth
How often he's targeted, and how well it works
Targets
3416% of team targetsCatch rate
68%23 of 34 targetsBehind LOS · Negative air yds
Short · 0–9 air yds
Middle · 10–19 air yds
Deep · 20+ air yds
68% catch rate on 34 targets · 16% of the team's targets · 57% catch rate on 7 deep targets (20+ air yds).
2 seasons under Rhett Lashlee, all balanced offenses — 15-6 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 3.4 | 51.6 | 18.8 | 0.0 |
| Road3g | 3.3 | 43.7 | 11.8 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 3.3 | 49.8 | 16.7 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 3.5 | 45.0 | 14.6 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Rhett Lashlee
Pass share
49.4%
268 pass / 275 run
Plays / game
67.9
8 games
Team sack rate
4.9%
288 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2026
About as many catches a game as a typical FBS receiver who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former four-star. Now #161 at the position.
2026 is in progress.
