(Image via Getty: Jermod McCoy and Las Vegas Raiders logo)
Tennessee Volunteers cornerback Jermod McCoy, who was projected by every analyst and every expert for every NFL team in dire need of a top-level cornerback, was not picked in the first two days of the 2026 NFL Draft.
This shocked everyone. But Yahoo Sports’ senior NFL reporter Charles Robinson had an answer.When Robinson spoke with several teams, he found that the issue was not the 2025 ACL tear but a “bone plug.” He further explained that a bone plug is “a piece of bone and cartilage used to repair a degenerative cartilage issue in the same knee.”Now, the doctors are saying that this bone plug needs to be replaced again, not immediately, but at some point in the future.
One team told him that if the next surgery is not successful, it could “effectively end McCoy’s career.”
Cowboys was linked to Jermod McCoy because of team doctor Dan Cooper
The foremost surgeon specializing in bone plugs is Dan Cooper, the Dallas Cowboys team doctor. If the Cowboys had drafted McCoy, it could have been because they had the foremost expert on their staff who had had successful bone plug surgeries.But Sports Illustrated’s Josh Sanchez suggested that the Cowboys must stick to the “no redshirt” policy and avoid drafting Tennessee CB.
A “redshirt” scenario would have him drafted but rested [sitting out] for a year.Cowboys owner Jerry Jones previously said that if any players were not able to contribute in 2026, then they were “pushed back” in his mind early in the draft process.Like the Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs were also linked to the Tennessee cornerback.
Chiefs drafted Trey Smith despite his medical condition
Arrowhead Addict’s Matt Conner reported that Trey Smith’s connection could help the Chiefs take a risk on Volunteers CB.Back in 2021, Kansas City took a risk on Smith, who went undrafted for five full rounds. He had developed blood clots in his lungs in 2018 and missed spring practice and the final five games as doctors feared recurrence.But blood thinners helped him continue to play. Several teams removed him from the board, but the Chiefs took a chance on him, and today, he’s one of the highest-paid offensive linemen in the league.Anyhow, it was not the Chiefs or the Cowboys, but the Raiders who selected McCoy.
Jermod McCoy was predicted for Raiders just hours before the draft
CBS Sports’ Jared Dublin projected six teams that could draft the Tennessee CB on Day 3 of the Draft just hours before the draft: Cincinnati Bengals, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, Baltimore Ravens, Minnesota Vikings, and the Las Vegas Raiders.The Raiders have the thinnest CB room, apart from Arizona’s Treydan Stukes, they have only Eric Stokes, Darien Porter, Decamerion Richardson, and Chigozie Anusiem under contract at outside.
Taron Johnson is in the slot.Now that they have selected Jermod McCoy as their fourth-round, 101st overall pick, their CB room could become more powerful than ever. Also, does this remind us of Maxx Crosby? How the Ravens returned him and how the Cowboys did not believe in him? But the Raiders believed in him…
