Could the Lions take a CB as early as the 2nd round?
Feb 24, 2026
Last updated: April 20, 2026
The Lions have significant CB health concerns heading into 2026 with Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw recovering from season-ending shoulder surgeries, and DJ Reed missing multiple weeks last year with a hamstring.
While the 1st round is probably too high for the Lions to go CB, the 2nd round and later are legitimate possibilities. Here are 3 young CB’s who could be available in that range.
Medical concern level ranges from 0 (no concern) to 5 (might be worth the risk if the reward is high) to 10 (take him off your board, Brad).
(Ages in parentheses are at start of 2026 season and are factored into the concern level. Injury info and ages based on available public information and are unverified - subject to update. Games played data courtesy of sports-reference.com.)
Quick summary of medical concern levels
D’Angelo Ponds, CB (21): ankle, lower body - 0/10 concern
Jermod McCoy, CB (21): ACL January 2025. Bone plug to repair knee cartilage damage that may need additional surgery in future. - 10/10 concern
Ponds appears to have a minimal injury history. While his age is unknown, he is likely very young, having played only 3 years of college. All this makes him one of the cleanest prospects in the draft.
His height/weight are on the smaller side as he was listed at 5’9”, 173lb at Indiana. While some teams may see this as a negative, I think it’s debatable whether a smaller player is actually at higher risk for injury in the NFL.
Ponds could be a plug-and-play replacement for Amik Robertson who is a free agent.
McCoy’s ACL timeline raises some questions. A fairly typical ~11 month recovery (Alim McNeill’s ACL took just over 10 months) could have had McCoy returning to play in November or December of his final college season. An appearance for even just a couple games at the end of the season would have been very reassuring, but that didn’t happen.
It’s definitely possible that McCoy stayed off the field simply for precautionary reasons, but this will need to be investigated. Any setbacks or associated damage with the initial injury can delay an ACL recovery. For example, Malcolm Rodriguez last season had a delayed return from his ACL (almost 12 months) due to a follow-up knee surgery.
As with any ACL, there is the possibility of associated cartilage damage that can pose a long-term concern. The operating room report and MRI would clarify this.
Most ACL’s have a very reliable recovery though with minimal to no residuals. If McCoy does well in pre-draft testing, all concerns could be alleviated.
The good news with McCoy’s ACL timing is that he should be a full-go for his rookie season. His young age also helps lower his concern level.
While McCoy is viewed as an elite, 1st-round talent, the questions surrounding his ACL could cause him to slip a bit.
Combine update: McCoy will not be working out at the combine which is concerning since he is 13 months post-ACL and should be ready to go. We’ll see if his pro day on March 31 can alleviate some of those concerns.
Pro Day March 31 update: McCoy reportedly ran a 4.38 40 with 38” vertical and 10’7” broad. I take pro day 40 times with a big grain of salt as they are likely agent-reported “best” times and are hand-timed.
He did agility drills which is good. How did he look doing them? I’ll let you judge in the following clips. To me, he doesn’t look super smooth but maybe that’s how he is at baseline. I still have not been reassured about why he did not work out at the NFL combine. With all that, I’m bumping his concern level up to 7/10. There are just too many unanswered questions here.
April 15, 2026 update: Additional reporting here by Tony Pauline states that “red flags were raised after teams deemed McCoy’s knee to be a degenerative condition.”
This is further evidence of concern that there may be more than just a straightforward ACL with McCoy. As I had written earlier, there is a possibility of significant articular cartilage damage found during surgery that would lead to concern for a degenerative knee. If this is indeed the case, it should be a major concern for teams both in the short-term as he has no live game action (proof of recovery) since the injury, and long-term for his career longevity.
This type of cartilage damage is consistent with the earlier report of a “degenerative” knee. There is a chance McCoy will not return to his previous level of athleticism. Given how important athleticism is to the CB position, this knee issue could dramatically lower his career ceiling.
If he ends up needing another bone plug procedure, that generally involves a multi-month recovery that could affect a future season.
Cisse has a long list of various injuries in his final 2 seasons that medical will need to sort out. Is he injury-prone or just unlucky? Always a difficult question to answer.
Fortunately, none of his injuries appear to be of a major variety, and he is very young.
