People across the sports world are buying stock in Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy ahead of his junior season in Knoxville.
While the six-foot Texas native is still recovering from offseason ACL surgery, McCoy projects as one of the top players across the sport this upcoming season.
On Tuesday afternoon, McCoy was named a preseason First Team All-American selection by Walter Camp. McCoy finished the 2024 season, his first campaign in Knoxville, as a First Team All-SEC Selection (AP) and a Second Team All-America selection (AP, Sports Illustrated).
Jermod McCoy has been named a preseason first-team All-American by @WalterCampFF #GBO 🍊 pic.twitter.com/xA4kfgPNjo
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) July 1, 2025
The other First Team All-America defensive backs on the Walter Camp list include Ohio State’s Caleb Downs, Notre Dame’s Leonard Moore, and Indiana’s D’Angelo Ponds.
But while McCoy projects as a star for the upcoming season, he is also being looked at as a first-round draft pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Matt Miller has tagged McCoy as a mid-first-round draft pick in his latest mock draft projections for ESPN. Miller has the rising junior as the 15th overall pick to the Miami Dolphins.
“There are some questions about McCoy’s status to start the season after he tore an ACL in January during offseason training, but there’s no question about his tape,” Miller wrote. “The 6-foot, 193-pound corner has six career interceptions and emerged as a true No. 1 CB last season. He has the length, height and speed to run with NFL-caliber wideouts and the ball skills to flip the field. He’s my CB1 as long as he recovers and stays healthy. The Dolphins need a capable outside cornerback — especially after trading Jalen Ramsey to the Steelers on Monday.”
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McCoy is the first cornerback off the board in Miller’s mock draft and is the fifth player from the SEC off the board behind Texas LB Anthony Hill Jr. at No. 4, Alabama OT Kadyn Proctor at No. 9, LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier at No. 11, and Auburn EDGE Keldric Faulk at No. 13.
In his first season at Tennessee in 2024 after transferring from Oregon State, McCoy recorded 26 solo tackles, four interceptions, and seven pass deflections. McCoy finished the season as Tennessee’s highest-rated defensive back (Pro Football Focus) at 87.0, and was third on the defense as a whole behind EDGE Josh Josephs (90.0) and first-round draft pick James Pearce Jr. at 87.7.
Though he’s still recovering from his ACL surgery this offseason, McCoy was an upbeat voice inside Tennessee’s training camp this past spring.
“We know that Jermod’s going to be back,” Tennessee secondary coach Willie Martinez said during spring camp. “We know he’s a great player. We know he’s a great leader. He’s doing an unbelievable job – just the same thing I just said about Rickey is times two with him. He’s engaged. He’s actually growing as a player, even though he’s not physically going through it. He’s setting the example. He’s leading it.”
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee news and notes this offseason.
