“We Weren’t Good Enough”
May 22nd, 2026
Still shook by third-and-28.
Earlier this week, Joe found new cornerbacks Rashad Johnson refreshingly honest.
Until he dropped the word “elite” to describe Benjamin Morrison. Slow down, coach.
Last year Joe thought the Bucs defense — not all players, but enough — quit on KitKat-eating Bucs coach Todd Bowles. Lavonte David unloaded on the defense three times after the bye. Bowles himself unloaded on the defense twice. Even Baker Mayfield got his two cents off his chest about the defense.
Did you see the defense play remotely inspired football in the final nine games? Joe didn’t.
And we all saw Mike Evans erupt on the sidelines hollering “third-and-28” in rage and disbelief against Atlanta. Could you blame him?
(“This Joe” is convinced that play sealed the deal that Evans was, as famed Phillies baseball broadcaster Harry Kalas would say, outta here.)
Johnson, who was promoted as Kevin Ross was dismissed after the season, never tried to hide or whitewash the Bucs’ woeful cornerback play when he spoke to the local pen and mic club this week.
“It’s simple and plain: We’ve just got to be better in those situations,” Johnson said. “Third-and-28, fourth downs, explosive plays on the defensive back end, those things can’t happen.”
But they did. Johnson said the task is now his to prevent those explosive plays from burying the Bucs as they did last year.
“Those things lose games,” Johnson said. “The standard here is to make it to the playoffs and then once we get in the playoffs, obviously, to win a Super Bowl.
“So we’re still pushing towards those goals. Didn’t reach those goals at all last year. So no, we’re not going to sugarcoat that.
“We weren’t good enough on the back end. My job is to help the guys get better to make sure that we can correct those mistakes.”
Joe appreciates Johnson’s candor but unless he’s seen something no Bucs fan has seen, Joe thinks it’s a monster gamble to start Benjamin Morrison at outside corner. What exactly was seen from him last year that suggested he is worthy of starting Week 1 in Cincinnati and able to win against Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins?
But Johnson is right, unless those explosive plays can be stopped, this Bucs team will only go so far.
May 22nd, 2026 at 7:10 am
RodMunch thinks the Bucs played inspired defense particularly in the last nine games. Do we need a critique by another expert? In fact, the defense was so good last year that Licht spend the offseason completely overhauling the defense and sent players packing. Munch has said repeatedly on these pages that Mayfield faking injuries behind a junior college O line was the real problem. Baker was so bad Licht is going to resign him for $50mill+/yr.
May 22nd, 2026 at 7:30 am
We had and still have guys back there that got their money and tanked – AWJ and McCollum. I’d have traded AWJ. We’re stuck with McCollum for one more season. With millions in guaranteed $$$, unless Jason gets rid of those guys, it will hold us back. You can’t coach character.
May 22nd, 2026 at 7:32 am
Love the photo. What question did you just ask him when he made *that* face?
May 22nd, 2026 at 7:35 am
Hard to get inspired when the scheme is outdated, hopefully the upgrade in talent up front makes a difference
May 22nd, 2026 at 7:37 am
BenMo is not, was not great. Until he plays better and shows otherwise he’s just a below average CB . He’ll get his chance early against Cincy.
May 22nd, 2026 at 7:44 am
So our CB play last year was horrendous and yet Jose is concerned about losing Dean? Instead this could be a case of addition by subtraction.
May 22nd, 2026 at 7:51 am
An honest assessment from a coach is refreshing.
Looks and sounds like he’s got some energy.
Bravo to the reporters that asked pointed questions.
Today my glass is half full!
Go Bucs.
May 22nd, 2026 at 8:13 am
From what I saw, Morison is ready to start. He was always “there” close to the play but was sometimes just a little bit out of position to make the play. He certainly has the tools to succeed. But he couldn’t beat out Zyon or Parrish at corner so, I can’t see him actually starting.
May 22nd, 2026 at 8:20 am
Dline play improves, that in turn makes the DB,s better.. Noooo its not Bakers fault
May 22nd, 2026 at 8:29 am
The deffence kick Evans out of Tampa.
May 22nd, 2026 at 8:30 am
Rashad Johnson … ‘We weren’t good enough on the back end’.
Our new CB coach is exactly right, but that begs the question: ‘What did we do in this off-season to change that?’ Looks to me like we (1) got rid of the old CB coach & promoted his assistant; (2) drafted a rookie Nickel CB; and (3) signed a 33-year-old free agent Safety (Killebrew) to play Special Teams.
Those aren’t encouraging modifications to our Secondary to most of us. Bucs desperately need to sign a veteran, starter-quality outside CB to push McCollum & Morrison for a starting position. I’m sure that Bowles will rotate Parrish in on the outside, but I’m not at all convinced that he’s any better than McCollum or Morrison outside. Look at last year’s results:
o McCollum (6’2″ & 199 lbs with 4.33 speed): 13 games – 766 def snaps – 82 targets – 49 completions – 59.8% – 6 TDs – 1 INT
o Morrison (6′ & 190 lbs with 4.38 speed): 10 games – 359 def snaps – 41 targets – 24 completions – 58.5% – 3 TDs – 0 INT
o Parrish (5’10” & 198 lbs with 4.35 speed): 17 games – 746 def snaps – 77 targets – 56 completions – 71.4% – 2 TDs – 2 INT
o T Smith (5’10” & 202 lbs with 4.46 speed): 16 games – 893 def snaps – 53 targets – 35 completions – 66.0% – 3 TDs – 1 INT
o Winfield (5’9″ & 203 lbs with 4.45 speed): 17 games – 1038 def snaps – 58 targets – 33 completions – 56.9% – 3 TDs – 2 INT
I see 3 problems there: (1) Our 2 presumed starting CBs together missed 11 games last year; (2) the 5 presumed Secondary starters for this year gave up 19 TDs among them last year; (3) those same 5 averaged only 1 INT each last year. Sure would be nice to sign a quality veteran CB to augment that group.
May 22nd, 2026 at 8:57 am
Every athlete has bad days amf injuries that affect performance. Everyone player makes mental mistakes, and all but the very best just get flat out beat sometimes. I have no complaints about any of that. At this level, though, there is zero excuse for lack of effort. That’s why I’m still a Baker fan while I have little use for last season’s D.
May 22nd, 2026 at 8:58 am
BenMo was a rookie who missed a chunk of training camp and a few games due to hamstring injury. I’m not worried about his growth and his skill set, cuz he could be a very good cornerback for us. He has the right athleticism and very good mind and work ethic to make that happen. I’m more worried about his health. Very glad the hips were not an issue at all last season and hopefully the trainers focus on the hammys this offseason so he doesn’t have that recurring problem. Maybe it was a one-time thing like Kancey’s calves (each side being a separate one time thing unfortunately 🙄).
There were three primary plays where Ben got burnt and I think they were all rookie mistakes. He was lock down on a whole lot of other routes. Take those three plays out of the average and he looks like a top tier CB. These things can be corrected with a full off season. If he can stay in the field, then he can grow into what Dean was, hopefully minus the health issues. Hoping the cornerback competition between he and McCollum pushes both of them to excel. We already know Parish is on the rise. I think Scott will completely change a lot of things for us at nickel. It’ll be like having Smith back at the position except it may be even better. They have similar physicality and football IQ but Scott ran a 4.33.
To me the bigger disappointment was McCollum. You should have taken a huge step forward in 2025. He really needs to show out this year. Should help a lot if our pass rush improvement is real. I would like more secondary depth (when they added Hall and Vildor to the team the last couple years, it was always in March… maybe they break the pattern and sign a summer vet CB?) but I like who we have, now just stay healthy and show your potential.
Any clue if rookie UFA Garnes or if Lucas or Hall show any potential to rise to a solid backup?
Just asking, I haven’t read much about them. I’m guessing we will see in training camp.
May 22nd, 2026 at 9:00 am
I love the photo of Rashad. Looks like someone just scared the crap out of him.
Hopefully that’s not his reaction to this upcoming season’ secondary play. LOL
May 22nd, 2026 at 9:09 am
Cincy, Cowboys, Rams, Vikings,Packers and Chargers all have great receivers so we will know quickly who is up to the challenge. It could be ugly if they don’t get their you know what straight
May 22nd, 2026 at 9:30 am
Thank You Joe for saying what I have been saying for awhile. Yes, starting Morrison and or McColumn is a huge gamble. I certainly don’t get it. When a Coach says Morison is elite, hopefully he meant potential or is boosting his confidence, because elite and Morrison thus far don’t go together. Even worse , behind Morrison and McColumn , whom thus far are inept, until proven otherwise their is no one. I mean the secondary unit looks pretty sad right now. I don’t care how good the front 7 are, without good coverage the defense is doomed.
May 22nd, 2026 at 9:42 am
Defense Rules, as always puts hyperbole of the media to the test of performance. Points well made.
Here’s my concern: How many times were players instructed to line up 10-15 yards off of the ball, and then beaten because they had to react to moves by the WR after the snap in that huge buffer? How many times were pass rushers dropped into coverage and beaten?
Chicken v. the egg: Was the bad scheme because of the low quality of play, or was the low quality of play caused by the scheme?
May 22nd, 2026 at 10:22 am
Talk is cheap…. The hangover from the 2024 & 2025 losing streaks is still there
Blah blah blah from new coaches and FA players
Heard it all before…
The pain is real and still there
May 22nd, 2026 at 10:51 am
ModHairKen … ‘Was the bad scheme because of the low quality of play, or was the low quality of play caused by the scheme?’
Great question, and I suspect that the answer lies somewhere in the middle between coaching & player performance. For 4 starters (Dean, McCollum, Morrison & Winfield) in the Secondary to allow Pass Completion Percentages of LESS than 60% tells me that they had to be doing something right. Unfortunately, those same 4 allowed 14 TDs among them last year, which seems a tad high to me (and got burned on too many explosive pass plays). Of course, our 2 starting ILBs (David & Dennis) allowed a total of 10 between just the 2 of them, so probably shouldn’t complain too much about the Secondary.
I’m not convinced that Todd Bowles instructs CBs to play off 10-15 yards (they couldn’t get each get Pass Completion Percentages BELOW 60% if they did). There was something more going on IMO, and gut feel is that they weren’t playing as a TEAM, and the consequence of that was players being out of position in relation to other guys (so the coverage really sucked). But then again, that’s just pure speculation, and I doubt that anyone who’s not on the Bucs’ defensive coaching staff REALLY knows where the breakdowns occurred.
May 22nd, 2026 at 11:14 am
Last year we had alot of depth at CB and we still sucked.
This year we have no depth so I’m expecting us to suck even more.
My goal of 7 feisty and fast corners has not been achieved.
Scott cannot play outside CB yet.
Parish is only 5-10. He will struggle at outside CB.
Morrison has no catch-up speed. And he can’t tackle.
JJ Roberts is more of a safety.
Rashad Wisdom is not a CB. He’s a safety Ànd maybe a nickle.
Kindle Vildor left for the Patriots.
Bryce Hall had potential before he destroyed his ankle in week 1. He’s in the UFL now.
So we have
1. Zion
2. Parish
3. Morrison
4.
5.
6.
7. Josh Hayes
And 3 UDFA corners
Tyrin Taylor – UDFA corner (camp/practice squad competition)
Ayden Garnes – UDFA CB, developmental
Jy Gilmore – UDFA CB, long shot roster fight
And some guys from last year
Kevin Hall – veteran depth CB / camp competition
Chase Lucas – depth corner / special teams
Damarion Williams – CB depth / nickel-safety flexibility
wtf are we doing?????
May 22nd, 2026 at 11:30 am
Bottom line is that the Bucs need to find two veteran CBs that can play outside. Like DR has shown, current CBs are getting worked by WRs. Need more help and it is not all coming from the Dline or LB’s. Come on Jason, please address this last player piece of the puzzle.
May 22nd, 2026 at 11:31 am
Just found out Adoree Jackson is a FA.
He’s 30. But still à good man-to-man CB.
Still very fast.
I think we should give him a chance.
May 22nd, 2026 at 11:40 am
So Joe has declared Morrison a starting CB job? The coaches haven’t said he’s the starter and only said he has talent. Last year he was hurt most of the offseason and a lot of the season. Let’s see how he does in camp before Joe talks about him as starting CB.
May 22nd, 2026 at 11:43 am
Still blaming the secondary.
And they deserve some of it.
But the real problem is the pass rush.
We could have Dion Sanders and Darrel Green at CB, and they couldn’t stop WRs, if the QB has all day. Every single QB that plays in the NFL can destroy a secondary, if they have time.
And boy, do they have time against the Bucs.
We have wasted Soooo many high draft picks on the D line.
Noah Spence, Joe Tryon, Logan Hall, Calijah Kancey, Chris Braswell to name a few. All absolute flops.
Even worse, signing Randy Gregory And Hanson Reddick shows that Jason Licht thinks it’s a joke.
It cost us Mike Evans. Still laughing?
And the plan this year is to count on a rookie. And that’s always a plan to fail.
Rookies take a couple years to adjust to the NFL.
We lost our best offensive weapon. Counting on rookies to improve the defense.
It’s gonna be long season
May 22nd, 2026 at 11:44 am
Todd will be on tv soon telling us how much he loves the DB group and what great depth they have at the position. Just like last years LB group
May 22nd, 2026 at 12:28 pm
We will see how ‘elite’ Morrison is in Game 1 vs. Cincinnati. He will either do well or get blistered.
May 22nd, 2026 at 12:31 pm
None of our corners were good last year. Its because we had 0 pass rush! If no pass rush it doesn’t matter who plays corner they won’t look good
May 22nd, 2026 at 1:46 pm
I agree about the pasa rush for sure.
We didn’t get any pressure.
May 22nd, 2026 at 2:09 pm
It all starts up front. If we are getting good pressure on qb then the corners will look good. No pass rush and they will get picked apart. Between free agency and the draft we MIGHT have corrected the problem. September is a long way away. GO BUCS!!!!!
May 22nd, 2026 at 2:23 pm
They saw enough of McCollum in ’24 to give him $16 million/year. He HAS the ability, he did it in ’24. No reason that version of him can’t be brought back
May 22nd, 2026 at 2:24 pm
We’ve certainly improved our front 7 which will definitely help the secondary. It remains to be seen how much but I think quite a bit. Also, all of our corners have elite recovery speed. That should be showing up much more if we take better angles.
May 22nd, 2026 at 2:38 pm
“gut feel is that they weren’t playing as a team”. DR. Bucs fans have seen about as good of defense as they come. When a defense is playing as a team you know it when you see it. I’m not going into more explanation but you’ve hit the nail on the head. The offense didn’t look like they were playing like a well oiled machine either, but missing more than half their starters gave them a reason.
May 22nd, 2026 at 2:45 pm
Wow. Maybe this guy should be the HC. Nice to hear directness.
I’ll only disagree with the ‘standard’. The standard is to win a bad division and lose at home.
Hopefully the standard is raised.
May 22nd, 2026 at 3:08 pm
Obvious. “Hopefully the standard is raised”. I only know what I read about the Bucs from 1976-2023. I do know the standard I’ve seen the last 3 years is a team in week 18 of each season still fighting for a playoff spot. And winning the regular season finale in all 3 of those years. The team I’m watching in no way the team I read about in the comment section of JBF.
May 22nd, 2026 at 3:09 pm
Re: cushion by CBs
It’s much easier to close from distance than backpedal or turn to run down field.
Watch ANY team – MOST snaps you will NOT see corners pressing at the LOS
A few reasons why you see a “cushion” (thx AI).
——-
Preventing the Deep Ball: If a team is running a Cover 3 or Cover 4 defense, the priority is to never let a receiver get behind the cornerback. Giving a cushion allows the corner to backpedal immediately and keep the play in front of them.
Down and Distance: On 3rd-and-long, or in a “prevent” scenario, coaches will instruct corners to play right at or behind the first down marker. Their goal is to rally and make the tackle immediately if the receiver catches the ball short of the line to gain.
Zone Coverage Responsibilities: In zone coverages like Cover 2, corners are sometimes assigned to cover the “flat” zone. Giving a 5 to 10-yard cushion gives the corner a head start to drop back and read the quarterback’s eyes or react to short underneath routes.
——
Again – Todd is not doing anything unusual – it’s football 101.
May 22nd, 2026 at 3:57 pm
Capt Tim … ‘And the plan this year is to count on a rookie. And that’s always a plan to fail. Rookies take a couple years to adjust to the NFL’.
Looking back at Todd Bowles history with rookie OLBs, I’d say that even top rookie Reuben Bain will have to EARN his def snaps. YaYa Diaby has averaged 784 def snaps his last 2 seasons, but only got 515 def snaps his rookie season (while he was learning ‘The Bowles’ Way’). JTS only got 560 snaps his 2021 rookie season, but then ballooned to 843 snaps his 2nd year (once he learned ‘The Bowles Way’). Of course, once JTS fell out of favor, his snaps regressed considerably. Anthony Nelson only got 153 snaps his 2019 rookie season, but then those snaps increased steadily once he learned Todd’s way of doing business).
This year we’ve got the rookie Rueben Bain, but we’ve also got David Walker, who’s really also a ‘rookie’. Plus we’ve got 2 veterans in addition to Diaby & Nelson … Muhammad & Brasswell … who’ll almost surely make the team IMO & who’ll also be fighting hard to get def snaps. Muhammad I consider to be a pass rush specialist, and Brasswell plays the run very well. Rueben Bain won’t be gifted anything. Bucs have a lot more competition at OLB than we’ve had for the past couple of years. Plus our interior DLine looks to be much more ‘robust’. This defense has a chance to get back into the Top-10 this season.
May 22nd, 2026 at 4:02 pm
Morrison wasn’t a steal in the second round he was a reach. Probably would’ve fell to the 4th round, or went undrafted. But since we used a second rounder on him, and sent Dean packing he’s going to have to play. Maybe with a better front 7, and him healthy? It’ll work out. If we see the same busts, same receivers running free, we know who it’s time to replace. Bowles.