2026 NFL Draft Day 3, live tracker as Jermod McCoy slides first overall

Jermod McCoy’s wait ended almost as soon as Day 3 began, when the Raiders traded up one spot with Buffalo and sent a 2027 seventh-round pick to land the Tennessee cornerback at No. 101 overall. McCoy had been viewed as one of the draft’s best prospects, ranked No. 6 overall on CBS Sports analyst Mike Renner’s board, but an ACL tear wiped out his 2025 season and knee questions pushed him out of the first three rounds. He entered the draft with six interceptions, 75 tackles, 16 pass breakups and one fumble recovery in 25 college games, and Las Vegas decided the risk was worth the swing.

That opening pick framed the rest of Saturday’s action. CBS Sports pointed to recent Day 3 hits like Amon-Ra St. Brown, Trey Smith, Brock Purdy and Puka Nacua as the reminder that value still lives in the back half of the draft, and teams spent Round 5 acting like that history still matters. The board was no longer about headline talent. It was about finding cheap depth, developmental upside and players who could help on special teams while waiting for bigger roles.

The fifth-round trade market showed that clearly. Denver moved to No. 152 to take tight end Justin Joly, Carolina jumped to No. 151 for defensive back Zakee Wheatley, Miami used No. 158 on safety Michael Taaffe, Kansas City added running back Emmett Johnson at No. 161, and Detroit came up for wide receiver Kendrick Law at No. 168. Las Vegas also turned a fifth-rounder into veteran help, sending No. 150 to New Orleans as part of the deal for defensive end Tyree Wilson. Those are the kinds of moves that define the middle rounds now: not splash, but flexibility, matchups and layered roster construction.

By the time Round 5 settled in, the draft had shifted into a roster-building exercise built around guards, tight ends, safeties, backs and cover men who can survive on special teams while coaches sort out the rest. The teams that kept buying picks in that range were not chasing stars so much as buying time, and that is exactly how contenders keep their benches from going thin by November.