Tennessee football star Jermod McCoy might be the best NFL draft prospect at his position.

ESPN's Matt Miller thinks so. He ranked McCoy as the top corner in the draft following this upcoming season. Also with ESPN, Jordan Reid ranked him at No. 2 behind just Penn State's AJ Harris.

Reid also weighed in on McCoy and named him the toughest player to rank at the position.

"The Oregon State transfer thrived in his first season with the Vols, intercepting four passes and looking like the CB1 of a strong 2026 corner class," Reid wrote. "But he suffered a torn ACL during a January training session, putting his status for the 2025 season in doubt. Can McCoy return to the field this season, and how would he perform if he does?"

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McCoy began his career at Oregon State. As a true freshman that was underrecruited, he played in 12 games and started five. In that time, he led the team with nine passes defended to go with seven pass breakups, two interceptions and 31 tackles.

Afterward, he entered the transfer portal and made his way to Tennessee. In Knoxville, he showed the qualities of a star defensive back early in his tenure.

After starting in all 13 games, McCoy notched 13 passes defended with nine pass breakups and four interceptions. This gave him a tie for the SEC lead in interceptions.

His four picks were the most since Nigel Warrior grabbed four in the 2019 season.

Memorable interceptions from his first season in orange included a one-handed snag in the end zone against Alabama and grab at Vanderbilt after a deflection.

McCoy was a two-star recruit out of high school. He went to Whitehouse High School in Whitehouse, Texas, the same school Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes attended.

Listed as an athlete, McCoy chose Oregon State with limited offers. He also had chances to attend Air Force, Alcorn State, Army, Columbia, Georgetown, Lamar, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Monroe, Northern Arizona, Northwestern State, Penn, Sam Houston State and Tulane.

He received interested from Baylor, Duke and Texas, as well, but did not receive a scholarship offer from any of those schools.

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