‘I didn’t see a wow player’ — NFL executive offers a contrasting take on ‘polarizing’ Tennessee CB Jermod McCoy
The former Tennessee Vols standout has been a bit of a mystery over the last year. Despite high regard by many draft pundits, one NFL exec apparently has some concerns.
Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy is expected to be one of the top two cornerbacks to hear his name called on Thursday, April 23, when the 2026 NFL Draft gets underway in Pittsburgh.
McCoy and LSU’s Mansoor Delane are widely considered the top two cornerbacks in the draft, with various mock drafts having one or the other go first well inside the top half of the first round.
However, according to ESPN’s Ben Solak, while most appear to be on board with his prior tape and are comfortable with his physical condition, it’s not a clean sweep. Solak got feedback from league executives and personnel on a number of “polarizing players”, and there were positives — and caution — regarding McCoy.
“McCoy is on this list largely because he didn’t play in 2025 due to an ACL tear,” Solak wrote. “But he looked every bit the part of a high draft pick at Tennessee’s pro day last month, running a 4.37-second 40-yard dash and jumping 38 inches. And multiple coaches pointed out that the 6-foot-1 McCoy looks bigger in person than they thought he would.”
“‘Really fluid, poised and calm in coverage, never see him panicked or out of phase, doesn’t have to strain to make plays’”, Solak quoted a veteran NFL defensive coach as saying.
AFC executive said he doesn’t see a ‘wow player’ on tape in Tennessee’s Jermod McCoy
That said, one AFC executive apparently wasn’t blown away by what he saw on tape from McCoy in 2024 at Tennessee, such that he’s comfortable dismissing concerns about his physical condition.
“[G]ood, but I didn’t see a wow player … so if you have any concerns about lower extremity durability, too, then you might have a tough time taking him,” Solak quoted an AFC exec as saying.
McCoy left some folks scratching their heads back at the NFL Combine at the end of February by choosing not to participate in drills apart from the bench press.
However, he answered any questions about his knee pretty emphatically at Tennessee’s Pro Day last month, posting a 4.37 40-yard dash time along with a 38 inch vertical jump and broad jump of 10 feet, 7 inches. The explosiveness is clearly still there.
We’ll find out if other execs still have concerns soon enough — or if McCoy addressed them sufficiently at his Pro Day — as the NFL Draft is now less than two weeks away.