With the college football season winding down over the next month, the NFL Draft season will begin ramping up as it builds to the 2026 event on Thursday, April 24, in Green Bay. It’s a time when the college football world and the NFL world collide with some of the league’s next superstars officially hitting the next level.
Since arriving at Tennessee, head coach Josh Heupel has seen 17 players selected in the NFL Draft, including two first-round picks, two second-round picks, and five third-round picks.
According to multiple projections this week, the Vols look to add to their overall number and their first-round number when the 2026 NFL Draft rolls around next spring.
ESPN’s Field Yates dropped a new NFL mock draft on Wednesday with two Tennessee defensive players projected as first-round selections. The first UT player off the board is cornerback Jermod McCoy, who is slated to go 21st overall to the Philadelphia Eagles. McCoy did not play the 2025 season while recovering from an ACL injury that occurred in January, but he still projects as one of the top defensive backs in the class based on his previous work.
“Some scouts believe he is a top-10 prospect, while others are dubious he will even go in the first round without any tape this season,” Yates wrote about McCoy. “But his elite skill set was obvious with the Volunteers last season, resulting in four interceptions and nine pass breakups.”
The injury is the obvious downfall with McCoy. But by the time the draft comes around, he’ll be roughly 15 months removed from the injury. That timeline could help his case, considering he isn’t a player that got hurt during the season and closer to the draft, such as Hendon Hooker was.
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The second Tennessee player in Yates’ first-round mock draft is UT cornerback Colton Hood, who stepped up in a big way during his lone year with the Vols in place of McCoy. Hood transferred to Tennessee from Colorado and immediately made an impact as a lockdown cornerback against opposing offenses. He finished the 2025 season with 50 tackles, 34 solo tackles, eight pass deflections, one forced fumble, and one interception.
“Hood has some areas to clean up with his technique, but there’s an infectious energy that you see every time you watch him play,” Yates writes. “He posted 10 pass breakups this season — his first with Tennessee after spending one season at Colorado and his freshman year at Auburn. Hood loves the challenge of man coverage and can be an aggressive player in run support.”
In addition to Field Yates’ mock draft on Wednesday, Pro Football Focus also had a mock draft release this week. PFF’s Trevor Sikkema tagged two first-round Tennessee projections, with McCoy going 14th overall to the Kansas City Chiefs and EDGE rusher Joshua Josephs going 25th overall to the Buffalo Bills.
Ultimately, it sounds like McCoy is continuing to trend toward a first-round projection. The question is whether Hood or Josephs will bump into the tier by the time the draft rolls around in the spring. At worst, Tennessee will likely have one first-round pick. At best, the team could see three in the first 32 picks, which would obviously be a Josh Heupel-era record.
The 2026 NFL Draft will take place from Thursday, April 24, to Saturday, April 26, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee-related draft coverage as the grind ramps up.
