Report: South Carolina DB Brandon Cisse declaring for 2026 NFL Draft

South Carolina junior cornerback Brandon Cisse has announced his intention to forgo his remaining collegiate eligibility and enter the 2026 NFL Draft, according to ESPN‘s Pete Thamel. Cisse is currently projected as a potential first-round pick, per ESPN draft analyst Field Yates.

“I’m excited to fulfill my lifelong dream,” Cisse told ESPN, per Thamel. “It’s definitely been a special feeling. It’s something I prayed for my whole life.”

Cisse only played one season at South Carolina but quickly emerged as one of the SEC’s top cover corners this year in Columbia. The 20-year-old Cisse transferred in this past offseason following two seasons at NC State (2023-24).

Yates recently projected Cisse could be taken off the board at No. 29 overall by the Seattle Seahawks in his latest first-round mock released earlier this week. Cisse finished the 2025 season with five pass breakups, one forced fumble and one interception at South Carolina. He also broke up five passes in 2024 at NC State before returning to his home state.

“Cisse is an ascending corner who showed off impressive man coverage skills after transferring from NC State in the spring,” Yates wrote. “He broke up 10 passes over the past two seasons, allowing a completion percentage under 40% in 2025. He’s extremely comfortable lining up opposite bigger-bodied perimeter wide receivers, which could be asked of him in Mike Macdonald’s defense.”

Cisse is a 6-foot, 190-pound cornerback originally from Sumter, S.C., where he was a three-star recruit out of Lakewood High as the nation’s No. 49 corner in the 2023 class, according to Rivals Industry Ranking.

Cisse told ESPN that whichever NFL team selects him will get “someone that can play man-to-man, is very versatile, a football junkie who cares about his teammates more than himself. Some(one) who loves football is a great teammate and will do anything for program and organization.”

Cisse joined the Gamecocks in January and immediately became a key presence within the South Carolina secondary during Spring practice, according to head coach Shane Beamer.

“He’s just a really good football player,” Beamer told Gamecock Central in April. “He loves the game. He’s a football junkie. He really is. He just loves the game. And I’m always getting text messages from him about the best DBs I’ve been around, or tell me about this DB that you coached, what made him great. Or I’ll get a text message early in the morning that he’s watching some NFL DB and asking questions about him. He just loves the game, and he’s passionate about being great.”

— Gamecock Central’s Wes Mitchell contributed to this report.