Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft has been full of surprises for Las Vegas Raiders fans. The day began on a peculiar note, as John Spytek decided to move up the board in Round 4, trading a future pick to land ultra-talented Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy.
McCoy, however, comes with his share of red flags. The first-round talent missed the entire last year with a torn ACL, and the idea that there is a degenerative issue with his knee is what made him slide to the fourth round in the first place. He appears to be healthy now, but the concern is still there.
Luckily for Raider Nation, Spytek stood pat at pick No. 175 in the fifth round and nabbed another great cornerback: Cal's Zeke Masses. While Masses is deserving of praise in his own right, Las Vegas' selection of him should instantly make fans feel better about gambling on McCoy's health.
Masses is, at the very worst, a good insurance policy for McCoy.
Las Vegas Raiders land Jermod McCoy insurance policy in Cal CB Zeke Masses
If McCoy never gets healthy, then Masses should easily be able to hold down a rotational role in the Raiders' secondary. If McCoy is healthy, then Las Vegas suddenly has an embarrassment of riches in the cornerback room.
The risk of taking McCoy, given his injury concerns, was far greater in Rounds 2 or 3 than it was in Round 4. But Spytek and the front office have now chosen Masses in Round 5, giving the team another way to mitigate the potential catastrophe of McCoy never getting healthy.
After a great career at Florida International, Masses tested himself in 2025 with a move up to California-Berkeley and a chance to play Power 4 football. To say that he rose to the occasion as a Golden Bear is an understatement.
In his first five games at Cal, Masses recorded four interceptions and seven passes defended. And not so magically, opposing teams didn't target him much after that. He spoke with me at the Senior Bowl about still finding ways to be effective as a corner when the ball isn't thrown your way.
That includes being a helper against the run, which Masses is. That means locking down your side of the field, even if you're not getting targeted. While that may be boring to some, Masses clearly took pride in his job, but also made it a point to be a great tackler and make second efforts to help out.
His 18 passes defended as a senior at Cal led the nation, and he tacked on five total interceptions. At almost 6-foot-1 and 179 pounds with just over 31-inch arms, Masses could stand to gain some weight, but he could even play both in the slot and out wide in the NFL.
I don't know about you guys, but that sounds like quite an insurance policy for the McCoy gamble. Masses may even surprise folks in training camp and carve out a role alongside him. But the Raiders keep building out their secondary with assassins on the back end, and Rob Leonard has to be thrilled.
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