The Tennessee football program is expected to have a presence in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft later this month, and the Vols will have representation in the green room in Pittsburgh as well. Cornerback Colton Hood is one of 16 prospects who will attend the draft, the NFL announced on Thursday evening. The Tennessee cornerback tandem of Hood and Jermod McCoy are both projected first-round picks, the former after his All-SEC for the Vols in 2025.
Hood, Ohio State safety Caleb Downs and LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane – who was recruited and coached at Virginia Tech by new Tennessee cornerbacks coach Derek Jones before starring for the Tigers in 2025 – are the defensive backs who will attend the draft.
The first round of the draft is Thursday, April 23 (8 p.m., NFL Network, ABC, ESPN). Pittsburgh last hosted the draft in 1948. The main stage for the draft will be the North Shore outside of Acrisure Stadium.
Hood will be the first Tennessee player to attend the NFL Draft since Derek Barnett was a first-round pick in 2017 in Philadelphia.
The 6-foot, 193-pound defensive back started his college career at Auburn and redshirted for the Tigers in 2023 before transferring to Colorado, where he played extensive snaps and was productive as a backup to two-year Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter.
Hood transferred to Tennessee last spring after McCoy’s offseason knee injury – which wound up causing him to miss the entire 2025 season, but didn’t dent his NFL outlook – and started all 12 regular-season games before declaring for the draft and opting out of the Music City. He totaled 50 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and eight pass breakups. Hood scored two of Tennessee’s six defensive touchdowns with a scoop-and-score fumble return against Syracuse in the season opener and an interception return at Mississippi State.
“I don’t think people understand how much Rocky Top means to me,” Hood said after Tennessee’s Pro Day. “It’s just like, just the love from the fans, just everything just in totality, all the people – just a great place, an amazing place. And I’ll say, like to any recruit out there, like you give your all for Rocky Top, they’re going to love you back.
“So definitely just overwhelmed with emotions and how this place helped me, and how I want to help this place.”
Hood, the No. 25 overall player in NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah’s latest prospect rankings, clocked a 4.44-second 40 at the NFL Scouting Combine, where he posted a 40.5-inch vertical jump and 10-foot, 5-inch broad jump.
In the latest mock drafts, Hood goes: