After an agonizing two-day wait and 100 picks, Jermod McCoy’s NFL Draft nightmare finally ended on Saturday.
The 6-foot-1, 188lb cornerback out of Tennessee, was projected to be picked in the top 20 in Pittsburgh, and had been holding out hopes for a top-10 selection.
But, somehow, at the end of the second day of picks on Friday – with 100 names selected already – McCoy was still on the board and available for selection.
The Las Vegas Raiders finally ended his misery by selecting him with the first pick on the third and final day of this year’s draft with the 101st pick.
Tom Brady’s Raiders have already selected Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick, as well as Treydan Stukes, Keryon Crawford and Trey Zuhn III.
The reason behind McCoy’s remarkable slide is believed to be injury, after he sat out the entirety of the 2025 season with a torn ACL.
Jermod McCoy finally realized his dream of being drafted to the NFL on Saturday afternoon
He was projected to be picked in the top 20 in Pittsburgh but the Raiders got him with the 101st
ESPN had him as the second-best player in his position but McCoy suffered a bad knee injury
Speaking on Saturday, McCoy said: ‘All of my doctors that did my surgery told me [that] I’m good.
‘But if there’s something that [the Raiders] want me to do for the longevity of my career, I’m willing to do that because I feel like they have my best interest.’
ESPN had ranked him as the second-best player in his position, but by the close of the third round of the draft, 11 cornerbacks had been selected ahead of him.
To rub salt in the wounds, ESPN’s live TV coverage continuously flashed McCoy’s name on the screen as the ‘best available player’, only for him to be passed over time and time again.
He was initially a wide receiver in high school, but transitioned to corner and was one of the best defensive backs in the country at Tennessee in the 2024 season.
An extremely impressive sub 4.4-second 40-yard dash at his pro day helped to alleviate some fears over his injury, but it was seemingly not enough to convince teams of his health.
In addition to his ACL tear, some concerns had been flagged by teams about his knee, according to reports.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported that some teams are concerned that a bone plug used to address a cartilage issue in McCoy’s knee might need to be replaced, raising the possibility of a further knee surgery.
In Thursday’s first round of the NFL Draft, it was Mansoor Delane selected as the first cornerback off the board, heading to the Chiefs after they traded up to get him.
San Diego State’s Chris Johnson was the only other cornerback taken in the first round, but while many followed on Friday night, McCoy was not among them.
He last played a snap on the football field in December 2024, nearly 500 days ago.
