Fran Duffy’s NFL Scouting Combine position preview, CB: Tennessee’s Jermod McCoy has the most to prove

I find the NFL Scouting Combine to be a test of expectations. Fast players should look fast. Slow players should look slow. When the results don’t match the expectations, that is when more work must be done. 

Below you’ll find my expectations for this position group this week in Indianapolis. Who do I expect to stand out? Who does this week mean the most for? What are the drills I prioritize most? Here are my thoughts on all of that and more!

Full Scouting Reports on all of these players can be found in the DieHard Draft Guide!

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Workout Warriors

These are the players who I expect to perform best in the athletic testing portion of the workout.

Avieon Terrell (Clemson)

He’s unlikely to be drafted highest in this cornerback group, but my favorite of the class is Terrell. He’s undersized, but this is a competitive corner who will scrap with anyone on the outside. He has really good instincts and is a loose, fluid athlete. He’s light on his feet, smooth in transition and has the speed to carry vertical routes with ease. At his size, he kind of NEEDS to test like a freaky athlete to get drafted in the first round, but I think he will come through.

Devin Moore (Florida)

In a class with a low supply of players with blue-chip ceiling, Moore is on the short list. He has the tools to be one of the best corners in the league with his combination of size and speed at over 6-foot-2 and nearly 200 pounds. His ease of movement stands out the moment you turn the tape on, with natural ability to flip his hips and turn and run with vertical routes in the SEC. Injuries have been a huge issue, so the medical will be big here, but I expect him to test really well. 

Brandon Cisse (South Carolina)

Cisse is a bit of an undersized man-to-man corner who I think has matchup ability both inside and outside (he played in the slot in their Dime package and could play nickel in the league). Does he have a playmaking dimension? I’m not really sure. But he’s a good athlete and should test like one this week.

The Drill To Watch

I am a big proponent of studying the position work at this event. That is my focus when I’m inside Lucas Oil Stadium – not the athletic tests! Here’s the drill I weigh the heaviest and who I expect to shine when it’s that time of the night.

One of my favorite drills for the DBs is called the ‘Box’ drill, where a player will backpedal, drive forward, come to balance, run back as if he’s reacting to a vertical route, then break again to find the football. A couple of things to note in this drill:

• As always, these drills are designed to put stress on the prospects. After executing a couple of athletic moves on command from a coach on the field, can the player find the ball and finish at the catch point for an interception? This will indicate his comfort in reeling in any pass that comes their way in coverage. 
• Before that point, however, you want to see easy change-of-direction and body control. Can the prospects execute these movements with good pad level, light, active feet, and a change in speed on the break? This all speaks to a player’s overall athleticism, which is obviously very important when it comes to his ability to stay in a receiver’s hip pocket in man-to-man coverage.

Here are the players who have a chance to shine in these drills.

Colton Hood (Tennessee)

Hood has certainly taken the road less travelled to this point as just a one-year starter on the outside, having played at three Power-4 programs in three seasons. I don’t know if he’s going to blow the doors off the testing portion of the workout, but he has shown really good flashes of being able to play the ball in the air. Drills like the ‘Box Drill’ should play well into his skillset.

Chris Johnson (San Diego State)

I like Johnson on tape, though I don’t like him as much as others do. I have questions about the overall speed and athletic profile, but I think he’s fairly smooth in his change of direction and he can finish on the ball downfield. I’m very interested to see how he tests, but in terms of the field work? He should be one of the better guys there.

Trust The Tape

These are the players I don’t expect to test off the charts athletically, but don’t panic! The tape shows a prospect who is a better football player than he is an athlete. With that in mind, don’t drop him down the board with a subpar workout!

Mansoor Delane (LSU)

Again, the combine is all about expectations. I like Delane. He’s my type of cornerback. I’m not as high on him as others, and so people have questioned why I’m so low on him. To me, I don’t see the explosiveness required for a corner to go as high as we are talking about him going in the draft. He’s instinctive and physical and can play the ball in the air, but I don’t know if he’s going to test like a great athlete across the board. For others, that may ‘drop’ him. For me? That matches what I see on the tape. I’m very interested to see how he runs on Friday.

Malik Muhammad (Texas)

Like Delane, Muhammad is the style of corner that I think plays well in the league. He has excellent instincts. He’s hyper-competitive and physical. He flashes real ability to take the ball away. His athleticism is the big question. It shows up on tape and it was an issue, at times, at the Senior Bowl when matched up one-on-one. I’m not expecting him to test overly well, so he won’t be dropping down if that’s the case this week.

Most To Prove

Some players make this trip with a big question (or three!) at this stage of the process. How well does he run? Will he pass the medical check? What is he like off the field in the interview room? These are the prospects with the most notable question marks on their resume at this stage of the process.

Jermod McCoy (Tennessee)

This one is simple. McCoy did not play a down this year for Tennessee after tearing his ACL 13 months ago. He had the opportunity to go to the Senior Bowl and did not go in order to prepare for this event. He should go through EVERY drill possible and, maybe more importantly, his knee has to pass through the medical check (for more on what he can expect there, check out last week’s ALL NFL Draft Newsletter). 

D’Angelo Ponds (Indiana)

I love Ponds’ tape and I do expect him to test well. Here’s the problem: he’s going to be an extreme outlier size-wise. He’s listed by Indiana at 5-foot-9, 173 pounds, and he is going to come in smaller than even that this week. If he’s going to go in the Top 50, he has to test like an insane athlete. It can’t be average or even just ‘good’. He needs some 90th percentile-plus numbers in his corner to outweigh the size limitations, even with the ideal production and compete levels.

Julian Neal (Arkansas)

Neal is one of the bigger corners in this class at 6-foot-1, 202 pounds with over 33-inch long arms. He really looks the part. The big question everyone has is how well he’ll run. I, personally, think he may be one of the ‘stopwatch shockers’ of the week. There were flashes of him turning and running in the SEC. That said, he’ll also have to answer for being a fifth-year senior who did not become a starter until this season, despite beginning his career at a lower level of competition with San Diego State. 

Davison Igbinosun (Ohio State)

This cornerback group is really deep in the middle of the class, with a lot of players all bunched together in what people would describe as the ‘round two to round four’ range. Igbinosun is in that group, and I think it’s likely he’s near the upper tier of that group. He’s a well-rounded corner who is truly battle tested with four years of starting experience in the Big Ten. It hasn’t all been pretty for him (he was penalized 16 times in 2024), but the tools are all there. He can really help himself with a big week this week.

Keith Abney II (Arizona State)

Like Igbinosun, Abney has been a bit of a flag magnet over his career, as penalties have been a consistent issue for him. I don’t think he’s great at playing through contact either, and the run game with him is more of a spectator sport. With that in mind, he has to counterbalance that by testing like a freaky athlete. I’m not sure he has it in him, but if he can do that, I think Round 2 is in the cards. 

The Rest Of The Pack

Everyone else who will take part in the events in Indianapolis (in alphabetical order).

Marcus Allen (UNC), Tacario Davis (Washington), Charles Demmings (Stephen F. Austin), Thaddeus Dixon (UNC), Daylen Everette (Georgia), Andre Fuller (Toledo), Jaylon Guilbeau (Texas), TJ Hall (Iowa), Ahmari Harvey (Georgia Tech), Domani Jackson (Alabama), Will Lee III (Texas A&M), Hezekiah Masses (Cal), Latrell McCutchin (Houston), Toriano Pride (Missouri), Ephesians Prysock (Washington), Chandler Rivers (Duke), Keionte Scott (Miami), Avery Smith (Toledo), Collin Wright (Stanford)

Mr. Average

We get to read all about the measurements for all these players over the next few weeks … but wouldn’t it be nice to have some context? What is considered a ‘good’ 40-yard dash time for this position? What about arm length? The broad jump? Here’s what the average player drafted at each position has looked like over the last decade (by my records).

Height: 5117 (5’11 7/8’’’)

Weight: 185

Hand Size: 918 (9 1/8’’)

Arm Length: 3138 (31 3/8’’)

Wingspan: 7558 (75 5/8’’)

40-Time: 4.45

10-Yard Split: 1.53

3-Cone Drill: 6.96

Short Shuttle: 4.22

Broad Jump: 124’’

Vertical Jump: 36.5’’