Tennessee Football’s two cornerbacks will be the names to know for Vol fans watching the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night in Pittsburgh. Don’t expect the viewing to come without a little bit of drama, though.
The two names to know are Tennessee cornerbacks Jermod McCoy and Colton Hood. McCoy did not play for the Vols during the 2025 season while sidelined with an ACL injury, while Hood played well in UT’s top cornerback role during his lone season in Knoxville. McCoy’s outstanding 2024 tape and Hood’s impressive 2025 tape both have them in first-round conversations, but there’s a lot of mystery as to what might happen on Thursday night.
McCoy has widely been projected as a high-to-mid first-round pick, but has been sliding down some draft boards this week as more medical reports come out. Hood, meanwhile, has been a fringe first-round prospect but has leaned into the Top 32 a good bit this month.
In Peter Schrager’s final mock draft for ESPN on Wednesday, he tagged McCoy as the 30th overall pick in the draft to the Miami Dolphins. He states that while the medical red flags are the reason for the slide, he doesn’t believe that slide will culminate in a Day 2 draft pick, either.
“The concerns around McCoy’s knee are real, so I think he does go a little later than previously thought. But … I don’t think he falls out of the first round,” Schrager writes. “The Dolphins have 11 picks in this draft, and considering the state of their cornerback room, this is a swing worth taking. When healthy, McCoy can be a difference-maker.”
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NFL’s Tom Pelissero reported this week that teams’ questions don’t necessarily revolve around McCoy’s torn ACL from January 2025. Instead, there’s more concern about the possibility of a future surgery needed to address a bone plug issue. The questions stemming the week of the draft seem to incidate a short-term vs long-term situation that teams will need to answer.
The other Tennessee name to watch for isn’t listed in Schrager’s first-round mock on Wednesday. That would be Colton Hood. The one-year Vol made a big impact on Rocky Top last season and continued to improve his stock through the Senior Bowl, the NFL Combine, and Tennessee’s Pro Day. He’s been listed at the tail end of many mock drafts this week, but Schrager has him off his list. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Hood early on Day 2 in this scenario, though.
The two big day one storylines for Tennessee fans watching the draft is how far McCoy slides after all the information that’s come out this week and whether Hood can sneak his way into the first round or not. From there, you’re looking at Day 2 storylines featuring Chris Brazzell and Joshua Josephs in a best-case scenario.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more NFL Draft coverage this week.
