“Out Of This World” Jacob Parrish
August 17th, 2026
How good is Bucs cornerback Jacob Parrish?
Joe heard directly from a former NFL defensive player after Bucs practice.
This was last week up in New Jersey. Speaking after a Jets-Bucs joint practice that featured a lot of 11-on-11 work from the first teams, retired defensive lineman Leger Douzable was all about Parrish.
The CBS Sports analyst had talked privately will Bowles that afternoon. Douzable played for Bowles with the Jets, and he keeps an extra eye on the Bucs after growing up in Tampa (Alonso High School).
Joe and Douzable were having a private discussion about the evolution of the Bucs defense and Douzable said he expects the Bucs to play less zone defense this season.
“Me and Bowles were talking about this, Jacob Parrish, I love that kid,” Douzable said. “He is going to be a star-in-waiting for the Bucs. His versatility on the inside and outside for the Bucs is out of this world. And I think he’s a guy that’s going to step in and kind of break out this year for the Bucs in the secondary.”
Pretty cool. Douzable brought up Parrish after just studying him, and Joe didn’t even mention a player.
The Bucs absolutely need that “break out” year Parrish that Douzable noted. Without it, well, Joe doesn’t want to think about it.
August 17th, 2026 at 2:30 pm
and coming in, morrison was supposed to be the one….with parrish being pretty darn good as well…
strange how things play out
August 17th, 2026 at 2:33 pm
Heard the QBs have been avoiding Parrish in practice since the start of camp, any truth to that Joe?
August 17th, 2026 at 2:35 pm
All we need is these guys to stay healthy. If he can man the Z receiver and let Zyon handle the big guys, we might be ok with an improved pass rush. Let Scott and Garnes handle the slot. Morrison will cheer from the stationary bike. Go Bucs!
August 17th, 2026 at 2:36 pm
Would be great if K.Scott has the kind of year Parrish had last year as a rookie…
GO BUCS!!!!
August 17th, 2026 at 2:37 pm
Morrison will cheer from the stationary bike. Go Bucs!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
GO BUCS!!!!
August 17th, 2026 at 2:45 pm
Healthy Morrison, Parrish and Keionte Scott get me amped.
I want to watch defense this year, crazy.
Finally an edge rusher, young but coming into their role DBs, Trotter and Anzalone.
Can Coach put it all together? Am I being too optimistic? Don’t care, go Bucs.
August 17th, 2026 at 2:48 pm
It’s why the secondary room is actually a strength of the team. They’re sneaky stacked.
August 17th, 2026 at 3:10 pm
I don’t care about out of this world versatility. Some above average coverage would be nice.
August 17th, 2026 at 3:17 pm
Parrish has had so much smoke blown up his a$$ it’s not funny.
Morrison, on the other hand has become another troll target for being injured and giving up some plays in his rookie year – hopefully he’s not reading all the sh$t being slung at him.
I would honestly hope that new players are warned to stay the hell away from JBF….. They will either be compared to HOF players as rookies or they’ll be slammed as useless if they are injured or struggle at all.
Let’s go DBs – lots of picks incoming this year 👍🏼
August 17th, 2026 at 3:21 pm
@Simple T
I would hope football players have the emotional and intellectual fortitude to not get worked up over comments on the internet, but I do know our starting QB has the emotional IQ of a box of warm eggo waffles so, maybe just the guys you mentioned.
it’s not that serious though.
August 17th, 2026 at 3:40 pm
And I thought I heard of every former NFL player who is now a commentator. Thanks Joe !
August 17th, 2026 at 3:43 pm
I said this after play #1 in preseason game #1 last season. He had better coverage on that play than any of our CBs since Bowles got here. I just hope Bowles doesn’t ruin him.
August 17th, 2026 at 3:44 pm
….. and i don’t know if he will be great by NFL standards but by last decade of Bucs CBs he’s great.
August 17th, 2026 at 4:21 pm
If BenMo can somehow stay healthy, he’ll make a difference on the back end.
August 17th, 2026 at 4:35 pm
Leger Douzable is a legendary name.
Parrish? Is our next Ronde Barber.
Scott is our new Jordan Whitehead but faster.
Bain is our new Sapp. QB Killah 2.0. All Business.
Trotter is our new Nickerson. Thé psycho.
Garnes is our new Donnie Abraham. That skinny boi!
Go Bucs!
Still waiting for an article on Pyburn.
Might be time to cut Nelson and Braswell.
Pyburn is legit.
August 17th, 2026 at 5:06 pm
I hope Morrison breaks out as much as people are on about his injuries which is a valid point with kancey as well bucs really need them to be healthy this season.
August 17th, 2026 at 5:51 pm
Yes, Macmillan, Kancey and Morrison could really change the fortunes of the team if they can remain healthy for once.
August 17th, 2026 at 6:03 pm
@Warren
I would “hope” so too but that doesn’t make it so. You’re no dummy. Most 21 year olds don’t know their a$$ from ahole in the ground. These are very young men, practically boys, and it’s probably rare to find 21-22 year olds with the psychological maturity to not be affected by either being repeatedly compared to HOFs or written off as worthless and/or unimportant according to some people’s narrative.
There would be zero upside side and a huge downside (imo) for players to ever show up here, to read what the Joes and all the geniuses in the comments section (self included) have to say.
As far as your Baker shade goes….. I’ll let you and the usual suspects bicker over the QB – I stopped engaging in the Baker wars 2 years ago 🤣
August 17th, 2026 at 6:47 pm
Fans need to stop being so mean and critical. This is a great team and they’re going far and deep. Especially this season.
August 17th, 2026 at 6:56 pm
Baker Bowl Says:
August 17th, 2026 at 2:45 pm
Healthy Morrison, Parrish and Keionte Scott get me amped.
I want to watch defense this year, crazy.
Finally an edge rusher, young but coming into their role DBs, Trotter and Anzalone.
Can Coach put it all together? Am I being too optimistic? Don’t care, go Bucs.
__________
I’m not usually overly optimistic about our team in general (1976+ trauma 😀) but I am excited to see this new defensive unit play with their hair on fire.
August 17th, 2026 at 7:46 pm
Alvin Scissors Harper … ‘If BenMo can somehow stay healthy, he’ll make a difference on the back end.’
I agree with you, although that seems to be a big IF. He’s got excellent talent, but that’s meaningless IF he can’t stay healthy. just for my own curiosity, took a look at our CBs to see if MAYBE I’ve been overlooking something obvious. And MAYBE that’s the case (and not just for me) …
o Morrison: 6′ & 190 lbs, with 4.39 speed in the 40 (based on tape & regional metrics apparently). Only played in 10 games last season (started 3), getting 359 def snaps, pretty much all outside. Was targeted 41 times, allowed 24 completions (58.5%) & 364 yds (15.2 yds/completion). And oh ya, allowed 3 TDs. Not great stats, but not terrible for a rookie with injury issues & who got no training camp either. Drafted highest of all our CBs as a Rnd 2 pick.
o Parrish: 5’10” & 198 lbs, with 4.35 speed in the 40 at his Combine. Played in all 17 games last season (started 5), getting 746 def snaps, mostly at Nickel but some outside. Was targeted 77 times, allowed 55 completions (71.4%) & 562 yds (10.2 yds/completion). Only allowed 2 TDs however. Nickels typically seem to allow a higher completion percentage than outside CBs, so I’d expect that Jacob would allow much lower than the 71% completions if he plays exclusively outside. Definitely a keeper as a 3rd Rnd draft pick.
o McCollum: 6’2″ & 199 lbs, with 4.33 speed in the 40 at his combine (plus a very good 39.5″ vertical). Played in only 13 games last season, but started all 13, getting 766 def snaps, presumably all outside. Was targeted 82 times last season, allowed 49 completions (59.8%) & 582 yds (11.9 yds/completion). Sadly he allowed 6 TDs in his 13 games. Easy to see both positives AND negatives in Zyon’s game after last season. Overall Zyon’s done quite well for a 5th Rnd pick.
o Keionte Scott: 6′ & 194 lbs, with 4.33 speed in th 40 at Miami’s Pro Day (some unofficial handheld clocks had him as fast as 4.25 sec). He was a beast last season at UM, with 64 tackles, 5 sacks, 2 INTs (both returned for TDs), 5 PDs, 2 FFs & 2 FRs. He primarily played a hybrid Nickel position for UM, and should fit perfectly into a similar position in the Bucs’ defense. Not too shabby for a 4th Rnd pick.
o Ayden Garnes: He’s listed as being 6′ & 181 lbs on the Bucs’ site, but couldn’t find out anything about his speed, etc. Had a very good 2025 season though for the Arizona Wildcats, starting all 13 games for the Wildcats (the Wildcats secondary finished 2025 first in the nation in team pass efficiency defense (97.20), second in interceptions (22), and seventh in pass defense (165.3 ypg). Ayden made 32 tackles (32 solo), had 1.5 TFLs, 8 PDs, plus 1 INT (returned for 59 yds). Young man’s got some talent.
o Josh Hayes: 6′ & 190 lbs, running a 4.44 sec 40 on his Pro Day in college. Played in all 17 games last season, but had 0 def snaps (Special Teamer all the way with 365 snaps there). Back in 2024 he did get 265 def snaps, but didn’t exactly excel (33 targets, 22 completions for 66.7% allowed) plus 4 TDs allowed. If Josh makes the team this year, my guess is that it’ll be as a Special Teamer once again.
Overall, Bucs’ Secondary has some excellent speed & reasonable size, but they’re young (and inexperienced). Definitely could use a veteran starter-capable outside CB to add ‘perspective’ & leadership to the CB room.
August 17th, 2026 at 8:29 pm
Right now he’s a good solid CB/NB. An NFL team needs about five of them on the roster.
August 17th, 2026 at 8:35 pm
Thanks for all the stats @Defense Rules
On paper, the way you’ve layed it out, seems we have a promising but young secondary with lots of speed.
Btw – Another site has Garnes 40 clocked @ 4.39, broad jump 10.9, vertical of 36″ although they don’t say where they got the numbers. If he can improve his tackling then we may have found a gem with him.
August 17th, 2026 at 8:57 pm
Simple T … I’ve read on a number of other sites that Bowles hopes to use a lot MORE man & a lot LESS zone this year. I sure do hope they’re right.
IF that comes to fruition, it’ll be because the pass rush this year was a LOT better than it was last year. IF Vea ends his tirade & joins the group, I honestly believe that our pass rush will be vastly better than it was in 2025. Without him however, I have trouble visualizing how the interior of the DLine can create enough havoc to let the OLBs feast. Nothing that any of us can do about that, so I guess we’ll just have to wait it out and see what happens.
August 17th, 2026 at 11:04 pm
Huh. 2 glass half full cornerback articles in a row. Feels like somebody got some constructive feedback from somebody about something….
No. You’re overthinking. This Jacob Parrish article was ready to go days ago. Seemed like a good time when it was clear he didn’t emerge from last week injured. –Joe
August 17th, 2026 at 11:51 pm
Whoever is back there, Bowles will have them ready to lock it down as per usual. Gravediggers are for real. The only thing standing in the Bucs way is injuries. And bad refereeing. Bowles would’ve made the NFC Championship at least last year if not for all the bad stuff.
August 18th, 2026 at 12:30 am
Lol, yea right like bowles defense is easy for players to pick up, this secondary is going to have blown assignments everywhere. Teams are going to light this defense up. I dont care what the point total is for week one I’m taking the over. Burrow and chase are as good as it gets in this league, I see 500 yards and 48 points by the bengals. Only way they don’t score is if they are up by 3 scores and try and run out the clock