Panthers reportedly meeting with potential 1st-round pick on Friday

The Carolina Panthers are reportedly set to bring in a pretty intriguing first-round prospect later this week. According to ESPN senior NFL writer Jeremy Fowler, University of Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy is expected to visit with the Panthers on Friday. Fowler wrote the following about the standout 20-year-old defender, who missed the entire 2025 campaign due to an ACL tear: Evaluators must be comfortable with the 2024 tape to draft him, and one AFC exec calls that tape "good, but I didn't see a wow player ...

so if you have any concerns about lower extremity durability, too, then you might have a tough time taking him. " McCoy has the profile to be picked early. But teams are doing homework on his knee and need to be comfortable with it.

McCoy is visiting Carolina, which picks No. 19 overall, on Friday. That 2024 tape helped McCoy earn a second-team All-American nod, as he tallied four interceptions and nine passes defensed for the Volunteers.

The Tyler, Texas native spent his prior season with Oregon State University, where he recorded a pair of picks and seven passes defensed over 12 games. McCoy, at least from the start, would be able to provide some top-end depth to the Panthers' cornerback room. And between Pro Bowler's Jaycee Horn's injury history and the upcoming free agency of Mike Jackson, McCoy could be in line for starting reps sooner rather than later in Carolina.