Drafting the right players in the 1st round of the 2026 NFL draft is going to be, in no small way, the key to the Dallas Cowboys having any type of success in 2026.
Drafting the wrong players could have the same effect in terms of the season going in the tank, and Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine has a warning for the Cowboys with their 2 1st round picks at No. 12 and No. 20 — and that warning is whatever you do, don’t draft Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy.
“The Cowboys were 31st in passer rating allowed last season,” Ballentine wrote. “No one would argue that they don’t need to address the cornerback position. It’s not hard to connect the dots, then, that Jermod McCoy could be on the Cowboys radar. McCoy is the No. 2 cornerback on our big board. There’s definitely a world where he is the answer for the Cowboys at outside cornerback, but the fact that McCoy missed the entire 2025 college football season with a torn ACL could be enough to take him off their board with the 12th pick.”
McCoy’s injury issues seem to extend beyond his surgically repaired knee.
“An update on Tennessee CB Jermod McCoy,” USA Today’s Arye Pulli wrote on his official X account. “Doctors are concerned that he will need another surgery to replace a bone plug used to repair a cartilage defect in his knee. The concerns are NOT about his surgically repaired ACL.”
Cowboys Drafted Another Injured CB in 2025
Another reason the Cowboys might want to steer clear of McCoy is that they were just burned by drafting another injured cornerback in 2026, when they thought they were getting 1st-round value with East Carolina cornerback Shavon Revel in the 3rd round (No. 76 overall).
Revel, who was coming off a torn ACL suffered early in the 2024 season, only played in 7 games as a rookie and got absolutely cooked, giving up a 126.1 passer rating.
When the Cowboys needed Revel most, he was at his worst. Bleacher Report called him out as the NFL’s “Biggest Loser” following a 34-17 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 16, in which the Cowboys were officially eliminated from the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
“Opponents have continually targeted the Cowboys’ rookie cornerback in recent weeks,” Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski wrote on December 21. “It’s never a good sign when a cornerback leads his squad in tackles, as Revel did Sunday. Ironically, the first-year defensive back isn’t a strong tackler, which shows up during his weekly performance. The Chargers went after Revel and generally found success.”
McCoy’s Path to Being Potential 1st Round Pick
McCoy, 6-foot and 188 pounds, skipped all testing at the NFL scouting combine outside of the 225-pound bench press.
Know what NFL teams really want out of potential 1st-round cornerbacks? Seeing how fast they can run the 40-yard dash.
“McCoy is a toolsy outside corner with CB1 flashes, but an ACL tear robbed him of a much-needed third season,” NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote. ” … We should expect McCoy’s athletic traits and instincts to help him make up for lost time once he gets into camp.”
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