For any major college football program, sending players to the NFL is a major measure of success, and Tennessee has done that well under Josh Heupel. With five players drafted this year, the Vols had a strong showing, but one pick stands out above the rest.
Detroit Lions expert sees upside in Miles Kitselman as sleeper candidate
Jermod McCoy was a projected top-10 pick at one point, but with lingering questions about the status of his knee, he fell to pick No. 101 overall to the Las Vegas Raiders in the fourth round. It was a shock to many, considering he ran a sub-4.40 40-yard dash at the Vols' pro day a month ago, but the long-term concerns about his knee held teams off.
All things considered, this may have been ther steal of the draft for Las Vegas. ESPN's NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller released his "2026 NFL draft: Ranking the 100 best picks, steals, fits" article today, and he was very high on Tennessee's Jermod McCoy and his Raiders selection. Miller ranked it as the second-best pick in all of the draft, only behind the Cowboys taking Caleb Downs at No.11 overall. Miller said:
"There's always a really good player who slips due to injury. Ranked as my No. 10 overall prospect, McCoy fell to No. 101 based on concerns that a surgical procedure he had done following a January 2025 ACL tear might need to be redone. But McCoy was cleared to work out at Tennessee's pro day and excelled with a 40-yard dash time of 4.38 seconds. Las Vegas aggressively attacked its secondary needs, but getting McCoy here could be the weekend's biggest steal if he's healthy. It was a smart bet to make and shows that general manager John Spytek is correctly thinking about risk, value and potential."
Jermod McCoy could go down as the biggest steal ever
What stands out the most is the fact that McCoy has the talent to be a legit star if he stays healthy. Given this, if the Raiders end up getting a monster in McCoy who can stay healthy, they will have the biggest steal of the draft, no doubt. Miller commemorated John Spytek for his calculated risk of taking a chance on McCoy. A team would be crazy not to throw a dart on a day the pick based on the potential that McCoy possesses, and for that, the Raiders taking a chance here is massive. Even if it doesn’t work out, give me the guy with top-10 upside over someone who won’t even be on the roster next spring.
Obviously, only time can answer this, but Las Vegas may have gotten a seal in McCoy. For his sake, I hope he balls out and gets a lucrative second contract in the league.
Add us as a preferred source on Google