There was time when Tennessee cornerback was viewed as the No. 1 cornerback in the 2026 NFL Draft. Despite missing the 2025 season with an ACL tear, McCoy was still ranked 11th overall on the Bleacher Report NFL Scouting Department’s final big board.
However, reports surfaced the week of the draft that McCoy might need another surgery on his knee, and the 6’1″ 188-pounder’s stock plummeted—McCoy fell all the way to Round 4 before the las Vegas Raiders selected him 101st overall.
McCoy was out there for the beginning of OTAs, and while appearing on the JT the Brick Show, Silver & Black Sports Network’s Jesse Merrick said that McCoy didn’t look the part of a player whose knee was a concern.
“Anybody that’s been around athletes knows this, and all these guys that play are athletes, but you can just tell how springy guys are and the way they walk. That’s one of those things that stands out a lot of times. And you watch [McCoy] and you’re just like, ‘Yeah, I can tell he’s a freak of nature athlete,'” Merrick said. “As I’m watching him, I’m sitting there trying to see like, okay, where does he look hampered by this knee? Because it is such a big deal in the storyline. And yes, they’re keeping him on a pitch count and kind of limiting what he’s doing and everything like that. But if you had no idea that he had this knee problem, you wouldn’t notice it out there on the field.”
After posting the NFL’s worst record last year, it’s no secret that the Raiders need help on both sides of the ball. If the team was able to get a legitimate top-15 talent on the draft’s third day, it could be the biggest case of larceny in the 2026 draft.
