Cincinnati Bengals Select SEC Cornerback In Latest 2026 NFL Mock Draft

A much different pick in this mock than most recent projections.

Tennessee defensive back Jermod McCoy (3) jogs during warm-ups before a NCAA football game between Tennessee Volunteers and New Mexico State Aggies at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Nov. 15, 2025. | Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah released his first NFL mock draft for the 20256 cycle on Monday, and Cincinnati didn't take one of the three wildly popular fits for them in this exercise.

Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy got selected 10th overall, not Miami's Rueben Bain Jr, Clemson's Peter Woods, or Ohio State's Caleb Downs.

McCoy did not play this past season due to injury, but is the 15th-best player on the consensus big board from Mock Draft Database and the second-best cornerback behind Mansoor Delane.

"Cincinnati needs help all over the field on defense. McCoy missed the 2025 season due to injury, but his 2024 tape was outstanding. He’s squarely in the mix to be the top CB in the draft," Jeremiah wrote.

The Bengals may already have the position locked down with Dax Hill and DJ Turner II playing well this past season, but like pass rush and offensive line, it can never hurt to have a stable of good coverage players.

Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said he'll do all he can this offseason to raise the defense from the league's depths.

"Yeah, I think both of them would be guys that we would (extend)," Tobin said about Hill and Turner earlier this offseason. "What they showed this year is that they're pretty high-level cover corners. They have the skill set that we thought they had. They've developed the way that we thought they would develop. And I was impressed with Dax coming off his knee injury. And you can just see the confidence grow as the longer he has had that in his past, and he is really proud of the way DJ grew, both as a leader and as a player. Those guys were fortunate to have them, and those are guys to build around.”

Check out the full mock draft from Jeremiah here.

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