Raiders start last day of NFL draft by taking Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy in rainy Pittsburgh

Tennessee defensive back Jermod McCoy walks onto the field for the school's NFL football pro day Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

PITTSBURGH — Jermod McCoy’s lengthy wait to hear his name called at the NFL draft came to a quick end on Saturday.

The Las Vegas Raiders selected the Tennessee cornerback with the first pick of the fourth round, taking a small gamble that McCoy will return to form after missing all of last season with a torn ACL.

McCoy had six interceptions in 25 games with the Volunteers and Oregon State, where he began his college career in 2023 before transferring to Tennessee. He injured the knee during offseason workouts in January 2025, not long after the Vols lost in the College Football Playoff.

“I was prepared for whatever happened, but, I mean, I would’ve been excited to go higher, for sure, because, I mean, I had a good pro day, ran some good times and just did good things like that,” McCoy said. “But, I mean, I was prepared for whatever happened. Because, I mean, it’s not in my control.”

The Raiders are hoping McCoy can help a defense that failed to generate takeaways with much consistency during a miserable 3-14 season in 2025. Las Vegas had just eight interceptions in 17 games last year, 25th in the 32-team league.

The pick also reunites McCoy — in a way at least — with top overall pick Fernando Mendoza. McCoy’s first career collegiate interception came against Mendoza while McCoy was at Oregon State and Mendoza was playing at California.

“It was probably one of the top moments in my life, my first college pick,” McCoy said. “We talked after that game too, just chopped it up a little bit ... We got the best quarterback in college football and now going to be the best in the league.”

McCoy added that watching the first three rounds pass by without being selected will “fuel” him as he looks to regain the form that had him on a first-round trajectory before the injury.

“I feel like I learned about myself, it’s just like, I feel like I’m super mentally strong,” he said. “I feel I’ve just been through a lot. I got a story that I’m still trying to tell.”

McCoy isn’t the only one.

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik, who began his last season with the Tigers with Heisman Trophy and national title hopes, only to endure a nightmarish fall in which Clemson went 7-6, went to the New York Jets with the 110th pick.

The final day of the NFL’s offseason festival began with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell telling the rain-soaked fans outside Acrisure Stadium that Pittsburgh had set a record for attendance on Thursday and Friday, with more than 600,000 people packing themselves into the city’s North Shore and nearby Point State Park.

The record for attendance during the entirety of the draft is 775,000, set by Detroit in 2025. That mark appeared in jeopardy even on a day that began with a soft but steady rain.

Then again, many in attendance had access to the yellow Terrible Towels that have long been fixtures at games of the hometown Steelers.

All four of the club’s Day 2 picks made their way to the stage tucked in the stadium’s northeast parking lot, including former Penn State quarterback Drew Allar, who was a somewhat surprising third-round selection.

“I’m really excited,” Allar said. “Enjoyed my four years at Penn State ... But I’m really excited to represent Steeler fans and Steeler nation and really win a lot of games.”

That part might not come right away. Allar joins a quarterback room that includes veteran Mason Rudolph and former Ohio State star Will Howard, a sixth-round choice by the Steelers in 2025. And that doesn’t include Aaron Rodgers, who very well could rejoin the club at some point before preparations for the 2026 season turn serious.

___

AP Sports Writer Mark Anderson in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Will Graves, The Associated Press