Veteran Rookie Keionte Scott
April 29th, 2026
An interesting dynamic is headed to the Buccaneers’ cornerbacks room.
Joe is sure rookie fourth-round pick Keionte Scott is the guy the Bucs want to win the nickel cornerback job.
Scott has a big personality, is used to being a vocal leader and he turns 25 before opening day. He’ll be alongside second-year corners Jacob Parrish, a very quiet guy, and Benjamin Morrison, the 2025 second-round pick, who will be fighting hard to get on the field. Parrish and Morrison just turned 22 years old.
How will Scott fit in? Zyon McCollum is the old dog among Bucs corners. He turns 27 next week.
Scott sat down on the always unpredictable Nightcap podcast before the draft, where he said he prides himself on being a defensive back capable of playing anywhere, but he admitted to loving the nickel position.
“Ultimately, the slot is just so fun with just how much you’re involved in the defense, whether that be in a run fit or having a pass responsibility so you’re kind of like in both roles,” Scott said.
“For a player like me, it kinds of just keeps me active, as much as I want to move my eyes and be involved, you know, it kind of just keeps me active and I can see things.”
As Joe shared, draft guru Dane Brugler sees Scott as the best-fit draft pick of Rounds 4 through 7 — for all NFL teams.
Joe hopes Scott comes as advertised and is a Day 1 natural nickel the Bucs feel they must have on the field. That would force true competition between McCollum and Morrison for a starting job at outside corner, with Parrish being gifted one based on his strong rookie play. Morrison is not viewed at One Buc Palace as a nickel.
Perhaps a true competition will snap McCollum out of the long funk he was in last season.
April 29th, 2026 at 11:31 am
Hopefully McCollum plays just good enough to get traded…
April 29th, 2026 at 11:35 am
They need to give McCollum that Dean pay cut.
April 29th, 2026 at 11:39 am
McCollum is a perfect example of how Jason Licht pumps up late round draft picks into genius GM finds when in fact they are actually closer to the evaluation the whole college draft evaluation industry had the player ranked .
April 29th, 2026 at 11:41 am
Yes , I hope the nickel spot is Scott’s to lose. That would likely mean Parrish moves to the outside. Presently until proven otherwise both Morrison and McColumn need to be replaced. Morrison has a chance to improve but in my opinion needs to improve drastically over last year. I don’t know if he can but I believe he is going to get the chance. McColumn I think is done, either his confidence is gone or he just doesn’t want to play. I think the Bucs need to bring in another top corner to compete. I believe both Morrison and McColumn should be benched or replaced until proven otherwise. Last year’s secondary play was beyond pathetic.
April 29th, 2026 at 11:44 am
We signed a couple Corners as UDFA
I especially like Ayden Garnes from Arizona U
He ran a 4.37, can really cover, very athletic
I’m looking for someone to replace Josh Hayes
I like Josh, he’s from Lakeland, and Geno is his Uncle
But we are building a dominant defense
April 29th, 2026 at 11:47 am
They restructed Zyon McCollum contract a .month ago
He’s on our books for a few years now
But if he don’t perform this season
I would cut him in a heartbeat, forget trading him
I would make an example of him, you loaf, you get cut
April 29th, 2026 at 11:49 am
“””l meant restructured
April 29th, 2026 at 11:53 am
What I love about this dude is what he said about his mindset during a blitz, how he knows he’s leaving his brothers back there exposed, so he’d better get home or something bad will happen.
It will be interesting to see how long it takes the genus to coach that out of him.
April 29th, 2026 at 11:53 am
Bring in L.Sneed
GO BUCS!!!!
April 29th, 2026 at 12:19 pm
No one should gifted anything parish had his hiccups last season it wasnt all sunshine and rainbows, earn it.
April 29th, 2026 at 12:23 pm
Now Zyon won’t be bored. :/
April 29th, 2026 at 12:24 pm
He gives me a Robert Parrish Tykee Smith Antoine Winfield kind of vibe. That’s good. A secondary full of guys like that would be fine. They could play anywhere in a pinch. But when you’re talking Morrison, or even McCollum, you are looking at corners. Both have the potential to be good. But I am all for signing a vet or two and with these undrafted free agents having both corners jobs being the most hotly contested jobs on our team this summer.
April 29th, 2026 at 12:30 pm
McCollum?? He seems bored according to what our head coach said last year. “He gets bored”. And what did our magnificent head coach who oversaw a 2-7 collapse down the stretch do about it? Apparently nothing. Show some backbone and bench him to get his attention or do something……Bowles is bad. I really hope we win this year, but I have zero confidence we will due to our head coaching situation…. “We gotta coach it better”
April 29th, 2026 at 12:31 pm
I kind of get why Zyon was extended so early. Dude is an amazing athlete and it’s just easy to speculate that once things click for him that he will be a Pro Bowl level CB. However, Zyon is SEVERELY lacking between the ears and watching him play is maddening. My sanity was saved once they benched him at the end of the season bc his ineptitude was driving me nuts. Loafing, half assed tackling, boneheaded missed assignments, you name it. SB nailed it when he said that he hopes Zyon plays just well enough to get traded. I am so done with seeing him not care about doing his friggin job!
April 29th, 2026 at 12:50 pm
“My sanity was saved once they benched him at the end of the season bc his ineptitude was driving me nuts”
Didn’t get benched, Zyon hurt his hip during the Thursday night game against Atlanta. Highly likely he was playing with that injury and aggravated it even more. That’s the only reason Vildor was in that game at the end, playing in McCollums’ place.
April 29th, 2026 at 12:51 pm
The key to the secondary will be the improvement of Morrison. He missed a lot of training camp last year and seemed uncomfortable when he played. Many scouts saw him as a high 2nd round guy, so it wasn’t just Licht that was high on him. I think Morrison will be vastly improved this year, and if he can start, then McCollum is tradeable.
April 29th, 2026 at 12:57 pm
WBL, could be wrong but I’ve heard a bunch of times that Zyon wasn’t really that hurt and they put him on IR to try and save the season. He was definitely one of the locker room cancers we were hearing about
April 29th, 2026 at 12:59 pm
Keep in mind Barber didn’t blow up until his 3rd season.
Give Morrison and Parrish some more time…
April 29th, 2026 at 1:01 pm
If Morrison plays up to his potential and Parrish continues his ascent our secondary could be a strength for a long time lots of ifs though and it usually doesn’t work out like that
April 29th, 2026 at 1:10 pm
McCollum would be a perfect fit with any division rival. He needs to go along with fake All Pro AWJr. AWjr. is the most overated defender in the NFL.
April 29th, 2026 at 1:10 pm
“WBL, could be wrong but I’ve heard a bunch of times that Zyon wasn’t really that hurt and they put him on IR to try and save the season”
Who’d you hear that from? Because if it isn’t somebody inside the building with intimate knowledge, than it’s just what you heard.
No reasonable explanation, I don’t care how bad people think McCollum is to play Vildor over him!? Not buying it.
April 29th, 2026 at 1:36 pm
biggest weakness on this team is cb! true or false?
April 29th, 2026 at 2:09 pm
Zyon earned his contract but his play fell off last season and so did the entire defense. Every position should have competition and everyone should be fighting for a starting job outside of vea an a few on the oline. Competition sharpens and no one should be gifted a job. Go out and earn it. How awesome would it be if barber showed this kid the ropes. Man barber perfected the position
April 29th, 2026 at 2:15 pm
I predict he’ll start his career as a slot corner, be excellent in that role., then if Bowles stays as the coach, he’ll mess around with him by moving him to safety, and then you’ll see his play drip off. Bowles does it with almost ever DB that isn’t a dedicated outside corner.
April 29th, 2026 at 2:32 pm
McCollum can also play safety. He might turn into a jack of all trades.
April 29th, 2026 at 3:19 pm
“I predict he’ll start his career as a slot corner, be excellent in that role., then if Bowles stays as the coach, he’ll mess around with him by moving him to safety, and then you’ll see his play drip off. Bowles does it with almost ever DB that isn’t a dedicated outside corner.”
Nickels & Safeties have alot of overlap in what they’re asked to do inside the box and locking up the middle of the field. Scott also thrives covering any route designed to get the target to the boundaries. Literally a sideline to sideline defenders and I’d go as far as seeing he’ll end up one of the better tacklers in our secondary.
April 29th, 2026 at 3:33 pm
Once Morrison got healthy towards the end of the year he flashed well. Had some mistakes but he hustled on the play, which show’s he has passion and a fire, McCollum didn’t, at least to me. Morrison came up and HIT both the receiver and the backs that were if front of him so he shows a willingness to square up and hit and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him turn into the player he was at ND. And get better. The DB’s have a real chance to be very good on their own merits and ability. If the D materializes into the hard-a**ed bunch JL & TB want them to be that will certainly signal a return to what we know and love around here.
April 29th, 2026 at 3:35 pm
The beautiful thing about Scott is- and I mentioned this in another thread- that he’s faster than Jahmyr Gibbs and Bijan Robinson. So he’s an ideal shadow of those two. He’s also a phenomenal tackler. With that speed, he can also cover Tight Ends and quick/shifty receivers or QB Spy Lamar Jackson. It’s really going to help our defense!
April 29th, 2026 at 4:39 pm
Get the push from the Dline ,and Stevie Wonder can cover
April 29th, 2026 at 4:46 pm
McCollum used to move with a fluidity that looked to be missing for much of last year.
Injuries are beyond top secret, but I wonder if he was playing through something like a sports hernia?
April 30th, 2026 at 12:48 am
Lesson: Blitzing on 3rd and long repeatedly fails throughput your career and ultimately looses the confidence of your star franchise receiver who departs. Answer: draft more people to blitz on 3rd and long.