Cowboys Predicted To Draft Cornerback Jermod McCoy; Why ESPN's Mel Kiper Is Wrong

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys could reverse course and re-change their minds about a long-standing NFL Draft policy that no longer seems to fit.

Or, team owner Jerry Jones could simply be full of it.

But as the Cowboys are once again being linked to Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy as the No. 12 pick in the upcoming draft?

Sorry. But based on the information we have, the guru, Mel Kiper Jr., is simply wrong.

ESPN’s Kiper Jr.’s latest first-round mock draft locks Dallas into taking McCoy, who certainly has a great deal of talent that may very well be unlocked in the NFL.

But ...

*He tore his ACL in January 2025.

*He sat out the entirety of last season.

*He didn’t work out last month at the NFL Scouting Combine.

But otherwise, everything's peachy here, right?

Kiper Jr. does mention in his prognostication that McCoy "doesn't come without questions.''

But as those "questions'' relate directly to Dallas? Kiper's evaluation there is a massive understatement.

Remember the recent quote from Jones on the subject at hand?

“We can’t have any redshirts,” Jones said of the Cowboys’ 2026 rookie class. “We can’t afford to have redshirts here. ... A player that you’re really putting stock in at a certain time that’s recovering from college injury relatively to the draft, you’ll see less of that this season.”

That can be driven by a sort of what I might call "healthy impatience,'' the team's need to win now in the "Dak Window'' (Prescott turns 33 this summer) or by Jerry's own mortality (as he turns 84 in the fall).

But either way, to predict that Dallas will draft the exact player who Jones just told us he will not draft makes ESPN look ignorant here.

Could Jones be fibbing? Sure. "Thowing chum in the water,'' as he used to say? Sure.

But mid-February sure is an early time to start planting those seeds of misinformation in advance of the late-April draft.

Far more likely in play here is another of Jerry's favorite games: He likes to drop "Easter eggs,'' hints of his team's true intentions.

And I believe that trying to avoid drafting guys like McCoy is the true intention here.

The Cowboys’ tendency to draft players with an injury history — believing they are getting steals by doing so — is a matter of fact. From Sean Lee to Leighton Vander Esch to Jaylon Smith to Shavon Revel Jr., they've loved those gambles.But the Cowboys are openly telling us "no more'' on that policy - surely with their two first-round picks.

Obviously, the board can fall a certain way. Things can change. Hey, McCoy's Pro Day is set for March 31 and maybe he will dazzle the Cowboys and the rest of the NFL.

But based on what we know - and what Kiper needs to know - the Cowboys have decided on what to do with "redshirts.'' And that seems to mean "no'' on McCoy.