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By Anne Erickson
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers rounded out the 2025-26 season with an 8-9 record, and even though that showing landed them at No. 2 in the NFC South, there are plenty of improvements that need to be made.
The 2026 NFL draft is slated for April 23 through 25 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and on day one, the Bucs will have the No. 15 pick, giving them a good chance to snag up-and-coming talent.
So, who will the Buccaneers take with that first-round pick? They may go with a chancy selection.
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On Friday, April 10, Nate Tice and Charles McDonald of Yahoo Sports unleashed their latest picks for the 2026 NFL draft, and they have the Buccaneers taking cornerback Jermod McCoy out of Tennessee. What makes this a chancy pick is that he's been out with an injury for an entire season.
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"McCoy might be one of the most talented players in the draft class, but he didn't play last season while recovering from a torn ACL," Tice and McDonald state in the piece. "At only 20 years old, he’s one of the younger players in the draft. His film from 2024 showed a player who can be a top-flight NFL cornerback with gobs of potential as a press-man corner."
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McCoy's draft profile calls him a "toolsy outside corner with cornerback one flashes," but they mention that his ACL tear "robbed him of a much-needed third season." The profile also says that he's "athletic in his recoveries but average acceleration leaves him chasing too often on go routes."
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The Buccaneers don't need a savior in the secondary, but they could use a little attitude and edge. That's where McCoy walks in, assuming the knee checks out and the room doesn't overthink the year off. If you look at his Tennessee football tape from 2024, it's all there: length, patience, and that quiet confidence that players either have or they don't.
He's young at 20, which means there's room to grow without having to tear things down first. You're drafting clay, not a finished product with bad habits baked in.
The ACL recovery is the obvious pause, and there's no way around it. But if the medicals line up, this feels like a very Buccaneers bet: young, twitchy, a little unfinished, and just confident enough to make it interesting.
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