Four more former Hoosiers selected on day three of the 2026 NFL draft

Photos of IU football vs. Kennesaw State at Memorial Stadium.

Four more former Hoosiers were selected on day three of the 2026 NFL draft, bringing the program’s total to eight selected overall this year, a record for IU football.

Elijah Sarratt, Riley Nowakowski, Pat Coogan and Aiden Fisher were the four players selected on Saturday.

Here’s the full release from IU Athletics:

Every round of the 2026 NFL Draft heard the name of an Indiana football student-athlete and it ended with a program-record eight Hoosiers hearing their name called. The quartet of Elijah Sarratt, Riley Nowakowski, Pat Coogan and Aiden Fisher were each drafted into the National Football League on Saturday (April 25).

The program-best eight picks in the 2026 edition of the draft give Indiana 10 selections over the last two seasons, which nearly equal the total number from the prior 10 years combined (11). The eight total draft picks in the 2026 event ranked No. 2 in the Big Ten and tied for No. 7 nationally among college programs.

All five offensive position groups were represented (QB, RB, WR, TE, OL) in this year’s draft for IU, with six total offensive selections and two from the defense. The multiple players drafted on both sides of the ball mark the first time since 1988 that multiple offensive and defensive players were selected in the same draft. It is just the fourth time in the common draft era for the program, along with the 1976 and 1973 drafts.

Sarratt’s selection gave Indiana multiple wideouts selected on the same draft for just the second time in program history after Omar Cooper Jr. was selected in the first round by the New York Jets. The only other occurrence came in 1970 when Jade Butcher (6th; Atlanta) and Eric Stolberg(17th; LA Raiders) were both selected.

As Nowakowski joined Cooper and Sarratt in the draft the Hoosiers had both a tight end and wide receiver picked in the same draft for the second time in the common draft era. The trio joins Cody Latimer (2nd; Denver) and Ted Bolser (7th; Washington) in 2014 as the only duos to each earn draft status in the same season. He is also just the fourth tight end from IU selected in the NFL Draft during the common draft era: John Andrews (5th; Baltimore Colts, 1971), Bolser and Ian Thomas (4th; Carolina, 2018).

Coogan was the first Hoosier drafted as a center in 59 years when the Tennessee Titans took him in the sixth round. The last IU center drafted was Bob Van Pelt in 1967 by the Philadelphia Eagles. Fisher is the first draft pick by the Houston Texas and IU now has at least one draft pick from 30 of the 32 NFL organizations.

2026 NFL Draft Selections

1.1 – Fernando Mendoza, QB – Las Vegas Raiders
1.30 – Omar Cooper Jr., WR – New York Jets
2.50 – D’Angelo Ponds, CB – New York Jets
3.90 – Kaelon Black, RB – San Francisco 49ers
4.115 – Elijah Sarratt, WR – Baltimore Ravens
5.169 – Riley Nowakowski, TE – Pittsburgh Steelers
6.194 – Pat Coogan, C – Tennessee Titans
7.243 – Aiden Fisher, LB – Houston Texans

Elijah Sarratt

A two-time All-Big Ten selection, Sarratt appeared in 52 career games with 40 starts – 27 games and 26 starts as a Hoosier – and finished his career with 242 receptions, 3,677 yards and 44 touchdowns across his stops at St. Francis (Pa.), James Madison and Indiana.

Pulled down at least one reception in 51 of 52 career games played and posted 13 career 100-yard receiving games (6 at Indiana; 6 at JMU; 1 at SFU) with multiple receiving touchdowns 11 times (6 at Indiana, 5 at JMU). He finished No. 2 in single-season receiving touchdowns (15) in 2025, just one behind James Hardy (16; 2007) for the top spot. Pulled in 23 receiving touchdowns as a Hoosier to put him No. 3 on the IU career charts.

Riley Nowakowski

With an industrial engineering degree in hand, Nowakowski made the most of his 2026 season with a career-best 32 receptions for 387 yards and two touchdowns receiving. He added two rushes, which both went for 1-yard touchdowns – the second coming as the opening score of the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

He appeared in 56 career game with 26 starts and played linebacker, fullback and tight end in his collegiate career. In all, he caught 50 passes for 518 yards and three scores through the air. In 2026, he was a second-team All-Big Ten pick by the conference media and third-team All-Big Ten from the coaches panel.

Pat Coogan

The first offensive lineman to earn Rose Bowl Offensive MVP honors in over 80 yards, Coogan was a second-team All-Big Ten pick by the conference media panel and third-team All-Big Ten from the coaches. Part of an offensive line that earned Joe Moore Award finalist recognition, Coogan started all 16 games and capped his career with back-to-back appearances in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game (2025 with Notre Dame; 2026 with Indiana).

He was part of an offensive line unit that paved the way for four-straight 300-yard rushing efforts to start the 2025 season – a program-record streak and longest Power 4 stretch since Baylor in 2017. Overall, Indiana had six 300-yard rushing games to set the program standard and posted multiple rushing touchdowns in 12 of 16 games in 2025. He also blocked for each of Heisman Trophy-winning and NFL Draft No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza’s FBS-best and program-record 41 passing scores during the season.

Aiden Fisher

The heartbeat of Indiana’s defense, Fisher started 28 games for Indiana over his two seasons on campus and was the first-ever two-time first-team All-America selection on the defensive side of the ball in program history. Indiana’s first-ever first-team All-America linebacker in 2024, he is the first back-to-back first-team All-American since offensive lineman Dan Feeney (2015-16)

The Butkus Award and Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year finalist, Fisher joined Van Waiters (1986-87) as only IU linebacker to earn first-team All-Big twice. He piled up 215 tackles, 16.0 tackles for loss, 6.0 sacks and forced four turnovers in two seasons as a Hoosier. He posted a pick-6 against UCLA, totaled 3.5 tackles for loss during IU’s College Football Playoff run, which included the lone TFL on a sack in the CFP National Championship Game.

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