Considering the Las Vegas Raiders spent the #1 overall pick on Heisman Trophy winner and National Champion quarterback Fernando Mendoza, it would be extremely ironic if one rookie, in particular, ended up being a Week 1 starter with Mendoza watching from the sidelines.
That rookie is cornerback prospect Jermod McCoy, whose fall in the 2026 NFL Draft was horrible to watch, but the Raiders certainly aren't complaining.
As a prospect, McCoy essentially gives the Raiders a bonus 1st-round pick from this year's class for the price of a 4th-rounder. The Raiders got McCoy with the top pick on Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft, and McCoy fell to that point due to concerns over his knee injury suffered in January, 2025.
Somewhat unexpectedly, McCoy is practicing already this offseason and looks like he might be able to play -- and play a much more significant role than anticipated -- right away as a rookie.
Jermod McCoy moving well for Las Vegas Raiders at the start of OTAs
McCoy has not only been seen moving well at Raiders OTAs, but he's also been spotted practicing returning some punts for them.
If a team was really concerned about a guy's current knee injury or recovery, would they have him out there returning punts at practice? Probably not.
Part of the confusion with a player like McCoy is that he was able to work out in full for NFL teams before the 2026 NFL Draft. While reports came out that there could eventually be another procedure required, there was also plenty of talk that McCoy's knee is clearly not an issue at the present moment.
He posted some outstanding numbers at his pre-draft workout:
Jermod McCoy is a CB prospect in the 2026 draft class. He scored a 9.67 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 102 out of 3075 CB from 1987 to 2026.https://t.co/nONFrOqmRk pic.twitter.com/H1FKH5uQv2
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) April 21, 2026
The notable element missing from McCoy's pre-draft metrics are his agility testing numbers, which require cutting and changing directions quickly. That was obviously something he didn't want to risk in the pre-draft process, and nobody blames him for that. But everything else checked out to the point that most felt he would still be a 1st-round selection...
Until he wasn't.
There are obviously a lot of question marks surrounding McCoy's long-term future, at least in terms of the health of his knee. But for right now, the Raiders appear to be treating him as though he's going to be available at the start of the season.
And if that's the case, like we mentioned before -- it effectively gives this team a free 1st-round pick from this year's draft.
The Raiders need a big draft win like that, any way they can get it. The defense has been retooled and reshaped at pretty much every level, but the cornerback position has been a huge question mark for the Raiders the past couple of seasons.
If he's able to go right away, McCoy would likely join a revamped secondary that includes 2025 free agent pickup Eric Stokes, trade acquisition Taron Johnson, and 2nd-round jack-of-all-trades Treydan Stukes. It would at least be the start of something very positive on the back end of that Raiders defense, and the inclusion of McCoy really takes the look of that group to the next level.
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