Jermod McCoy goes to Cowboys at pick No. 12 thanks to Blogging The Boys in SB Nation’s community mock draft

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 19: Jermod McCoy #3 of the Tennessee Volunteers before a game between Alabama and Tennessee at Neyland Stadium on October 19, 2024 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Roger Wimmer/ISI Photos/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Welcome back to another year of the SB Nation Community Mock Draft!

As we do every draft season, all 32 NFL sites at SB Nation come together to fill out an entire first-round mock draft leading up to the actual event that takes place from April 23-25. One by one, our site managers will make their picks and provide their reasoning behind the selection. From there, I will provide further analysis on top of giving a final opinion on the pick!

Without further ado, let’s keep things rolling!

With the 12th overall pick in the 2026 SB Nation Community Mock Draft, Blogging The Boys’ Dave Halprin and the Dallas Cowboys select Jermod McCoy, cornerback, Tennessee!

Halprin’s analysis:

My analysis: McCoy comes off the board as the second-overall cornerback despite the ACL tear that took his entire 2025 season. The Cowboys defense was abysmal this past year and a good place to start trying to turn it around is grabbing a guy who may as well have been the bonafide CB1 in this class if it wasn’t for the devastating injury.

McCoy was very productive in his two healthy seasons at Tennessee with six interceptions and 16 pass breakups from 2023-2024. He’s a very loose-hipped defender with great lower-body explosion that helps him get into passing lanes in a blink. If his injury doesn’t linger into his rookie season, don’t be surprised if McCoy ends up being one of the top rookie corners in 2026.