
The Raiders wound up taking four defensive backs in the 2026 NFL Draft, including S Treydan Stukes, CB Jermod McCoy, S Dalton Johnson, and CB Hezekiah Masses. Las Vegas traded up to the top pick of the fourth round to take McCoy, who vice president of player personnel Brandon Hunt said they didn’t want to miss out on taking him.
“We felt like this was a player that 32 teams were going to look at, and he’d be the same guy up on the board that kind of stuck out like a green thumb,” Hunt said. “We didn’t want to take a chance on missing him.”
Raiders’ director of college scouting Brandon Yeargan mentioned that Stukes, McCoy, and Masses each have experience in multiple roles.
“All those guys are pretty versatile; they’ve played nickel, deep [safety and] outside [cornerback],” Yeargan said. “Even Stukes has played outside corner in his career, too. So, it really helps, especially [since] we’re going to have a pretty versatile scheme under [new defensive coordinator] Robbie Leonard, so that’s a critical component too.”
Hunt thinks McCoy has shown he is “twitchy, fast” and good in coverage.
“[McCoy is] twitchy, fast, a cover guy [and] got some punt return skills,” Hunt said. “We’re really excited to see what he does. And the future is bright for this guy.”
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