Pharoh Cooper trying to avoid NFL Draft talk

With one day to go before the start of the NFL Draft, Pharoh Cooper’s projected status is all over the place. That’s why the former South Carolina star is trying to pay as little attention as he can to the countless mock drafts and analyst opinions available this week.

“I told (my agents) not to tell me anything,” Cooper said. “I just said, ‘let it play out and see how it is.’ ”

The draft will begin on Thursday in Chicago with the first round. Rounds two and three will be held on Friday, and rounds four through seven will be held on Saturday. No South Carolina players are expecting to hear their names called Thursday, but Cooper and tight end Jerell Adams are hoping to get good news on Friday.

“I’m excited right now. Friday, I’ll probably be nervous,” Cooper said. “From everything I’ve been hearing my agents say a lot of teams love me, so maybe late second or early third. You never really know.”

Many draft analysts expect Cooper to be picked in the fourth or fifth round, although CBSSports.com has him going to Green Bay with the No. 88 overall pick in the second round.

Cooper, 5-foot-11, 205 pounds, led the Gamecocks in receiving each of the past two seasons, totaling 2,109 on 135 catches as well as rushing for 311 and throwing for another 89. He had 26 total touchdowns during his three years at South Carolina.

Working against Cooper is his time in the 40-yard dash. He ran a 4.61 40 on the team’s Pro Day, which isn’t among the top times for wide receivers, and he’s projected by most teams as a player who’ll only play slot receiver in the NFL, said NBC Sports draft analyst Josh Norris.

“Cooper is solely a role player,” Norris said. “He is solely a slot receiver, a one-speed slot receiver. I don’t think any team believes he can play in two-wide receiver packages, and therefore he is more of a complementary piece. There are a number of good slot guys in this class like (Sterling) Shepard and (Daniel) Braverman. Cooper kind of gets lost in that mix.”

Cooper will watch Friday’s draft with his family in his hometown of Havelock, N.C. He spent the first part of the week in Columbia working out at the Gamecocks facilities.

“It’s been pretty free this week, just chilling until the draft really,” he said. “I kind of got everything out of the way. This whole week has just been working out and waiting up for the draft.”

The New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers have paid particular interest to Cooper during the evaluation process, he said, so he’ll be paying extra attention when those teams are on the clock.

“I grew up in North Carolina and you always want to travel the world and live in different places, but if I went to Carolina, I would love to play for that program,” he said. “I’m a Carolina boy so that would be great to play for the Panthers if that happens.”

This story was originally published April 27, 2016 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Pharoh Cooper trying to avoid NFL Draft talk."