Why Raiders 'Really Excited' About Jermod McCoy's Development

• "He jumps out when he does individual [drills] with how explosive he is, and you see the talent," defensive coordinator Rob Leonard said.

• "He's done a great job," head coach Klint Kubiak said. "We're asking him to spend a lot of time with [Guerrero] just to get him ready, so that when we put him out there come training camp, we have 100% confidence in him. [We are] really excited about seeing him practice come training camp."

• "Football is football. For me, the hardest thing is I really want to do more fundamental drills with him just to develop them the way I see," defensive backs coach Joe Woods said, "But that whole process, he's fine. When we had him, it was like he didn't miss any time."

• "I love the new guys," cornerback Eric Stokes said. "I just can't wait to see how they're going to develop. ...It's always a challenge, but I feel like that we got the right guys and we got the right people in the room to help them grow."

Overall Takeaways

Las Vegas' coaching staff has steadily brought McCoy along, as he continues to work back from a knee injury that prevented him from playing the entire 2025 season.

However, if McCoy stays on track and proves himself during training camp, the Raiders' decision to trade up to the first pick of the fourth round to draft the 6-foot-1, 193-pound cornerback will be justified. Las Vegas' pass defense was underwhelming last season, and adding McCoy to the allotment of pieces general manager John Spytek infused into that side of the ball could be a masterclass decision.

Overall, Las Vegas' front office and coaching staff should be thrilled about the talent assembled on this roster over the last several months. The Raiders have been labeled a rebuilding team, but that process could be expedited by how the organization has gone about its business in hiring Kubiak, through free agency, and in the draft. Las Vegas is certainly heading in the right direction, following a tumultuous 2025 season.

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