Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy announced Wednesday that he will enter the 2026 NFL Draft. McCoy is a potential top-10 pick in this draft class, despite having missed the entire 2025 season with a knee injury.<\/p>\n
A transfer from Oregon State following the 2023 season, McCoy earned first-team All-SEC and second-team All-America honors following his first season at Tennessee, in which he registered four interceptions, nine pass breakups and 44 tackles. However, McCoy suffered an ACL injury in January and did not take the field during the Volunteers\u2019 regular season.<\/p>\n
\u201c(E)ven though my time on the field was cut short,\u201d McCoy wrote in a statement shared on social media, \u201cI will forever be grateful for my time here at the University of Tennessee. It has been a true honor, and I\u2019m appreciative for every moment I had in the orange and white.\u201d<\/p>\n
McCoy (6 feet, 195 pounds) will be one of the most closely scrutinized prospects during the pre-draft cycle, as interested teams wait to see what his updated medical reports reveal.<\/p>\n
The junior ranked No. 9 (and as the No. 1 cornerback) on Dane Brugler\u2019s most recent draft board<\/a>. He was the 16th pick, by Dallas, in Brugler\u2019s mock draft<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n Dane Brugler\u2019s immediate reaction<\/p>\n A prospect carrying first-round tape from 2024 but no tape from 2025 is not ideal. That said, McCoy will be more than a year removed from his ACL injury when NFL team doctors examine his knee at the combine in February 2026, to (hopefully) verify full health and no long-term concerns.<\/p>\n The timing of his injury could turn out to be something of a positive, because McCoy should be able to work out and test at some point before the draft, giving him a chance to remind teams why he was considered a potential top-10 pick after last season.<\/p>\n LSU\u2019s Mansoor Delane closed ground with his senior season \u2014 he\u2019s made a strong case to be CB1 in this class. But McCoy is very much still in that conversation, assuming the medicals come back clean.<\/p>\n HOW DID HE COME UP WITH THIS? \ud83d\ude32 <\/p>\n Tennessee shuts down Vandy in the end zone \u274c pic.twitter.com\/aUHZeAWC8i<\/a><\/p>\n