Joshua Josephs (19) celebrates a defensive stop during a game against Kentucky at Neyland Stadium. Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. Cole Moore/RTI
Heading into the 2025 college football season, Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy was widely considered a probable first-round NFL Draft pick even despite his ongoing injured status as he recovers from a torn ACL that was suffered back in January. McCoy has been popping up as a first-round projection since the 2025 NFL Draft last spring, and that doesn’t look to be changing.
He may not be the only one, though.
In late September, CBS Sports’ Mike Renner tagged fellow Tennessee cornerback Colton Hood as a potential first-round pick. He had McCoy going 11th overall to the Cincinnati Bengals and Hood going 16th overall to the Cleveland Browns.
Tennessee now has yet another first-round projection in ESPN’s latest mock draft. While ESPN’s Jordan Reid doesn’t have Hood among his first 32 picks, he does have Tennessee EDGE rusher Joshua Josephs tagged as the 27th overall pick in the first round to the Philadelphia Eagles.
“The Eagles love drafting edge rushers early, and Josephs is one of the best pressure generators in the country,” Reid writes. “His 18.4% pressure rate ranks 10th among all edge rushers in the FBS, and he already has a career-high four sacks. He’s capable of operating in a three-point stance or as a stand-up outside linebacker, using the pop in his hands while mixing and matching his moves to win pass rushes.”
This appears to be either the first mock draft or one of the first mocks to have Josephs in the first-round category, mainly because he’s been playing like one through the first half of the 2025 season.
In six games, Josephs has a team-leading four sacks alongside defensive end Tyre West. Josephs also has two pass deflections, three forced fumbles, and 25 total tackles. He’s been a menace for opposing offensive linemen and has picked up the production that former first-round pick James Pearce Jr. left last season.
If Josephs continues at the same rate that he’s going now, Tennessee could wind up with first-round EDGE rushers in back-to-back years of the NFL Draft.
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Reid also has McCoy going in the first round next spring, a few spots higher than Josephs but a handful of spots lower than Mike Renner’s No. 11 projection for CBS Sports last month. Reid has McCoy going 24th overall to the Los Angeles Rams to join a secondary that includes former Tennessee safety Jaylen McCollough.
“McCoy has yet to play after suffering a torn ACL while training in January,” Reid writes. “The timeline for his return is still uncertain. But McCoy picked off four passes last season before the injury, and the Rams could use help at cornerback. They’ve gotten by with retreads at corner such as 2023 first-round pick Emmanuel Forbes Jr., but McCoy is a potential shutdown option on the outside once he returns to full health, something they haven’t had since Jalen Ramsey in 2022.”
The 2026 NFL Draft will take place from April 23-25 in Pittsburgh.
Click here to see Jordan Reid’s latest NFL mock draft for ESPN.