“Emphasis” Is Clear For Bucs Cornerbacks
June 11th, 2025
Zyon McCollum and Jamel Dean working on their press techniques at today’s practice, a common sight.
Soft coverage from Bucs cornerbacks in recent years has led to a chorus of fan jeers — in The Licht House and on social media.
The Bucs allowed an ugly 66.47 completion rate last season, despite playing in a division specializing in sad quarterbacks.
That percentage ranked 10th-worst in the NFL last season, improved from eighth-worst in 2023.
Easy completions is not what defensive coordinator/head coach Todd Bowles wants, but that’s what his defense delivered.
The Bucs hope to change that this season with an improved edge rush, K.J. Britt playing 250 miles away and cornerbacks being more aggressive.
Bucs No. 1 cornerback Zyon McCollum said that will play to the strength of his fellow corners.
“We have been putting the emphasis on being around the line of scrimmage as corners and as nickels and making these wide receivers work,” McCollum told WDAE radio today.
Joe loves to hear it, and for this post, Joe will not look in the rear view mirror to wrestle with why the edict to play tighter coverage wasn’t a bigger thing last year.
Upward and onward.
June 11th, 2025 at 6:35 pm
Feel much better than last year with talent in the secondary.
June 11th, 2025 at 6:59 pm
Believing it when we are seeing it.
June 11th, 2025 at 7:05 pm
I’m as big supporter of Todd Bowles. If this doesn’t hold true this season, I really will have to question him. He has to at least call it that way consistently for the first half of the season. Take whatever bumps may come, but trust that it will all come together. Of course much is on the players too. But It would appear that we have the PERFECT lineup to rush 4 And Press. We have to see the defense to be much better and come close to catching up to the offense. That’s when we can really talk Super Bowl
June 11th, 2025 at 7:47 pm
I seem to remember Joe reporting something about Bowles telling him that injuries were why we needed to play soft zones, but maybe I misunderstood.
June 11th, 2025 at 7:52 pm
Or misremember.
June 11th, 2025 at 8:11 pm
What Aqualung said.
June 11th, 2025 at 8:22 pm
I’m gonna guess that the hodgepodge at S with a less than 100% Winfield and other injuries we had contributed to the soft coverage.
Maybe this is wrong but I assume with healthy rangy safeties that press coverage and denying a WR parts of the field makes it easier for the back end safeties to read and make plays.
Hype machine is in overdrive for me. If this squad stays healthy, I see no reason why we aren’t a final 4 team at minimum. Bucs just seem loaded this season. Everyone saying and doing the right things, there’s hunger, there’s camaraderie.
Need the coaches to call games aggressively, go for the kill every time a unit steps on the field. I can handle mistakes when going for it, can’t handle them when we are playing soft and not to lose.
June 11th, 2025 at 8:25 pm
I’ll get excited when it happens. I’ll get excited when Todd doesnt revert back to soft zone with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter and allow the opposing team to score on two consecutive possessions after keeping scoreless the majority of the game.
Todd has a pattern, he likes to play scared in big moments with the passing defense. Would love to see him stick with this against some of the top teams we face this year. Hit em at the line!!!
June 11th, 2025 at 9:07 pm
Bowles does indeed evolve a little. He is not Lovie Smith. Yeah he has faults. We picked up some pretty good additions. We dumped a few problems. Bowles claims he is going to emphasize turnovers. We seem to have made an earnest effort to improve the pass rush. Ok, Todd. Show me. A slightly improved defense will guarantee 11 wins or more.
June 11th, 2025 at 9:09 pm
Agreed. Believe it when we see it..
The June hype is off the charts this year, and I’ve seen all 50.
June 11th, 2025 at 9:10 pm
I just can’t believe anything Bowles says about the defense. Unfortunately, I expect the same soft coverage by the CBs and Safeties and all out blitzing that doesn’t seem to work against a lot of mobile QBs. Think the defensive play calling needs an overhaul or the results will be the same as last year no matter who is on the field. This defense needs to find a way to keep offenses from easy 3rd and 4th down conversions.
June 11th, 2025 at 9:28 pm
Please for the love of God play tighter coverages.
June 11th, 2025 at 9:32 pm
Fred – spot on. I should buy you a beer. Well said.
June 11th, 2025 at 9:38 pm
C’mon, Joe. Dean is still CB1. McCollum is hardly our number 1 corner. He’s great with the media but not so much on Sundays. He’s more athlete than football player. And his greatest attribute is his rookie contract.
June 11th, 2025 at 9:41 pm
@Saskbucs
You are absolutely correct sir IMO. I’ve been saying it for awhile – safety play greatly impacts what coverages you can run and how the corners (can) play. For most of the year our safeties were close to zero help in the pass game.
If AWJ can return to even 80% who he was a couple years ago, and Tykee can shore up the other safety position (which I think he can/will), instead of trotting names like Neal, Edwards, and Whitehead and some scotch tape we can actually have an effective back end (I’d rather see shilo and roberts back there than the dues I mentioned above)
This trickles down to corner play and allows for more scheme flexibility and more aggressiveness. Last year if Zyon and Dean let somebody get behind them it was over. We adjusted our scheme because the safeties were limited, I’d guess. You can’t play man, or cover 2 (etc) aggressively or effectively, with shlt play @ safety.
June 11th, 2025 at 10:08 pm
I am hoping he’ll play all four corners each game, rather than go with the starters 90 percent of each game. That can help with aggression and injuries, maybe.
June 11th, 2025 at 10:17 pm
Needless to say, boundless opportunities to improve the coaching and game management.
#As we hope Todd evolves
June 11th, 2025 at 10:21 pm
Bowles gets paranoid when his cbs gives up big plays, so he plays soft zones, he would rather die by a thousand paper cuts.
June 11th, 2025 at 11:30 pm
If the Bowles goes back to playing an aggressive man-to-man defense, like the defense he won a SB with … I refuse to get my hopes up only to be let down yet again, so I’m going to assume the worst.
June 11th, 2025 at 11:42 pm
todd is the reason we cant get to Super Bowl he is a horrible coachplayers like him cause he holds no one accountable…..like dumby smith shahem the dream losers
June 12th, 2025 at 1:45 am
Yeah, if only Bowles would lose that habit of protecting a 2 touchdown lead in the 3rd quarter; that can lead to a couple of games-lost a year, at least.
Maybe the performances of the new, drafted cornerbacks will be so impressive that it’ll give Todd courage.
June 12th, 2025 at 4:08 am
Bowles is suspect when he says things about players and what he wants of his defense because he has not lived up to what he says at times.
When he states that the corners are gonna play more man or closer to the LOS I have to see it to believe it.
He also emphasized tackling better on the back end for the last two years and frankly, I have not seen any improvement. Lots of grabbing, diving, swiping at the ball. Not enough real tackles.
Go Bucs!
June 12th, 2025 at 6:18 am
Like many of my fellow Bucs fans said, we will believe it when we see it,
We have heard a lot of words about change and doing better etc and we have not seen them on the field.
Not holding anything against anyone but I believe something only when i see it.
Go Bucs
June 12th, 2025 at 8:23 am
If it’s as easy as just coaching them to play up tighter on the line as Todd himself has stated, I don’t understand why it wasn’t done the last few years.
June 12th, 2025 at 9:03 am
the pic in this post is two soon to be ex-bucs
June 12th, 2025 at 9:29 am
SHOW
ME
It’s the only sane response to the pass defense after that last few years
June 12th, 2025 at 10:56 am
Don’t how often I hear people say that an offense ‘takes what the defense gives you’? How about a defense not giving Jack Sheeit?
Bucs Defense finished just behind the American Red Cross in charitability in 2024.
I can understand playing off the line some to give the defender a better chance of beating blocks in run support. 3rd and 7-10 doesn’t automatically mean pass
anymore and getting beat on a 7 yard out or a 10 yard run is the same. move the chains. Defense got Beat.
Dropping Linemen into coverage isn’t bad either as Vic Fangio has done a masterful job with that concept. Unless he’s dropping and a run on 3rd and long hits in that vacated area. Beat again. Having a tight end running wide open 20 yards downfield is unacceptable unless of course that was by design. Did the Defense give Pitts the wide open TD?. Not the one where someone left the goal line camera in the truck.
Defense is always at a disadvantage because Offenses can change plays and alignments multiple times before the play clock winds down and often change in the last few seconds and adjusting to that is difficult.
Communicate and don’t give away a thing. Defense should be in the Business of taking only and by that I don’t include an ash whoopings.
June 12th, 2025 at 2:24 pm
It wasnt emphasized last year because we had no pass rush With a rush Jamming makes sense without one your subjected to be burned over and over again so I say they played to the strength of what they was working with.
June 12th, 2025 at 11:08 pm
Bucsalltheway Says:
June 12th, 2025 at 2:24 pm
It wasnt emphasized last year because we had no pass rush
———
Wrong, they had a pass rush when they actually rushed the passer, it’s why they finished 7th in sacks. That is also the issue however, they finished 7th in sacks while leading the league in passive zone defense – those sacks came when they went away from zone, or at least brought guys who and didn’t sit back in that garbage soft zone. When you’re in such a soft zone defense, it means QBs, even if they’re under pressure, can easily dump off the ball since they always have guys open underneth.
June 13th, 2025 at 12:57 am
Excellent point, Rod.