Draft season always comes back to the same question for teams picking near the top half of the first round. Do you take the safer player, or do you bet on traits and trust your process? That is the kind of decision Jermod McCoy could force on the Dallas Cowboys if he is still sitting there at No. 12.
Depending on who you ask, he is either worth the swing or the exact kind of prospect that can make a front office nervous.
Cowboys Radio Hosts View Jermod McCoy as a High-Risk, High-Reward Prospect
McCoy was the focus of a recent discussion on “105.3 The Fan” after two draft analysts mocked the Tennessee cornerback to the Cowboys. The appeal is easy to understand, and the risk is as well. “He is the quintessential high-ceiling, low-floor guy,” RJ Choppy said. “He is the lotto ticket.”
That is the tension around McCoy’s evaluation. The talent is obvious, and there are still plenty of people who believe he is a first-round player. However, the injury and lack of a 2025 season make him a much different projection than some of the other defenders expected to be in that range.
Shan Shariff pushed that point further and argued the absence could eventually look overblown if McCoy comes back and plays the way many inside Tennessee expected. “He could sit here and ball out in year one,” Shariff said. “And we punished him for not being available for a year.”
That is why he is such an interesting test case. Teams must decide whether they are drafting the player he was before the injury or the uncertainty that comes with the missed time.
That conversation matters for the Cowboys because the Cowboys still have a clear need at corner. Trevon Diggs is gone, and the secondary remains one of the biggest spots to watch on the roster heading into the draft.
PFSN’s Reese Decker recently mocked McCoy to the Cowboys at No. 12, pointing to the Cowboys’ offseason work along the defensive front as a reason they could now turn their focus to the back end.
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That logic tracks. The Cowboys already added help up front through trades and free agency, and cornerback still feels like the cleanest place to add a young building block.
McCoy’s profile explains why the interest exists. Even without playing in 2025, he is still viewed as one of the more talented corners in the class because of what he showed the year before. In 2024, he recorded 44 tackles, 4 interceptions, and 9 pass breakups while showcasing the movement skills that usually push corners up the board.
If the Cowboys believe the player is still in there and the medicals check out, McCoy becomes a very real first-round option. If he hits, the Cowboys may end up looking smart for taking the swing.
If he doesn’t, it becomes the kind of pick people point back to when they ask why teams sometimes overthink safer answers.
