McCoy Slide Rumor
An insider told Yahoo Sports that a potentially steep draft slide for prospect Jermod McCoy is on the table, introducing uncertainty into his draft range. (Yahoo Sports) (sports.yahoo.com)
Jermod McCoy entered draft week as a possible first-round cornerback, but Dane Brugler said Thursday that a knee concern could push him out of Round 1. (sports.yahoo.com) Brugler, speaking to DLLS Cowboys, said, “If the knee is an issue for you, he could fall all the way out of the first round,” even though he still gave McCoy a first-round grade. Brugler’s latest mock had McCoy going No. 18 to the Minnesota Vikings. (sports.yahoo.com) The uncertainty centers on a torn anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, that McCoy suffered in January 2025 and that cost him the entire 2025 season at Tennessee. NFL.com lists him at 6-foot-0 3/4 and 188 pounds and still projects him as a Round 1 prospect. (nfl.com) McCoy tried to answer those questions on March 31 at Tennessee’s pro day, where he ran a 4.38-second 40-yard dash, posted a 38-inch vertical jump and a 10-foot-7 broad jump, and worked through position drills. ESPN analyst Matt Miller said after that workout that he did not expect McCoy to slide past No. 20. (sports.yahoo.com) That swing in projections traces back to a missing season of film. McCoy did not work out at the National Football League scouting combine in February, then resurfaced a month later with the pro-day testing that reopened the case for him as one of the class’s top corners. (collegesportswire.usatoday.com, sports.yahoo.com) Before the injury, McCoy had built a strong résumé in two seasons. NFL.com says he played at Oregon State in 2023, transferred to Tennessee for 2024, and finished that season with 44 tackles, nine pass breakups and four interceptions while earning second-team Associated Press All-America and second-team All-Southeastern Conference honors. (nfl.com) His profile is why teams keep wrestling with the risk. NFL.com ranked McCoy as its No. 3 cornerback in the 2026 class and gave him a 6.40 grade, which it defines as a player who “will become good starter within two years.” (nfl.com) The draft starts April 23 in Pittsburgh, and McCoy’s range now appears to run from the middle of the first round to somewhere beyond pick 32, depending on how each team reads the same knee. (sports.yahoo.com, triblive.com)
