The Las Vegas Raiders took a gamble on cornerback Jermod McCoy, and they're hoping his knee can hold up after surgery.
The Las Vegas Raiders decided to gamble on Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy after he slid down the draft board, and we’re slowly learning more about the medical reports that caused that slide after the Raiders selected McCoy in the fourth round.
According to a report from Rory Parks of ProFootballRumors.com, the Raiders are optimistic that McCoy can play despite the late flood of information about his surgically-repaired knee. That’s a reasonable take given the intel that McCoy’s immediate availability wasn’t an issue.
McCoy missed the entire 2025 season due to an ACL tear, so he was probably going to slide out of the first round regardless of how serious his medicals looked. He performed well at Tennessee’s pro day in March, according to Parks, who said McCoy ran a 4.37-second 40-yard dash, logged a 38-inch vertical jump, and registered a 10-foot, 7-inch broad jump.
But his ACL isn’t really the issue. The writer added that the real problem is a bone plug that was used to repair a cartilage defect in McCoy’s knee, and that plug may need to be replaced at some point down the line. Replacement surgery could sideline McCoy for an entire season, and it could even end his career.
According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, five of the eight teams the writer polled has removed McCoy from their draft boards entirely, but the Raiders decided he was worth a Day 3 gamble.
The move makes sense for the Raiders. They’re just starting a full rebuild, so this is exactly the sort of gamble they should be taking. They’re overhauling their secondary completely and bringing in a large number of undrafted free agents, so the goal there will be to find a depth player who can step in if McCoy goes down.
The good news is that the Raiders are set at the other corner. Eric Stokes bet on himself and played well last year, so he got a good deal as a free agent, and he’s been reliable so far. The Raiders also drafted Treydan Stukes, who’s not an outside cornerback, but Stukes fits the profile of ballhawking secondary players that Las Vegas is now adding.
The Raiders also traded to acquire cornerback Taron Johnson from the Buffalo Bills, so he’ll go into camp as one possible depth piece. There will be others as the Raiders hope they’ve gotten a genuine steal with a healthy McCoy.