Jamel Dean’s Unique Trio
January 25th, 2020
Bucs rookie cornerback Jamel Dean had a unique season. He was hurt, he was on the bench, he finally got significant time and was horrendous.
And then he became one of the better ballhawk corners in the league during the second half of the season.
But Dean also has a unique background and Florida Today newspaper wrote about it recently. Dean went to Cocoa High in Florida, and two of his high school teammates, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Jawaan Taylor, made the Pro Football Writers NFL All-Rookie Team.
How cool is that! Three high school teammates on the all-rookie team!
Cornerback Gardner-Johnson was a fourth-round pick of the Saints; Taylor (offensive tackle) was an earlier second-round pick of the Jaguars. Dean was a late third-rounder.
Dean, of course, also was a college teammate at Auburn of fellow Bucs cornerback Carlton Davis. Dean has spoken previously about how the the two have pushed each other for years.
His future appears bright, but Joe has to see a lot more. In only four games this season did Dean play two-thirds (or more) of the Bucs’ defensive snaps. Joe also hopes the Bucs add legitimate veteran competition for Dean and the rest of the cornerbacks.
January 25th, 2020 at 2:39 pm
Happy for the kid !…and the Bucs…as I’ve said before the guy is HUGE
January 25th, 2020 at 2:46 pm
Imagine being a high school quarterback trying to throw to guys covered by two future NFL corners lol. I’m really happy at the progress of our secondary this year. They showed up a lot in the second half. Invest in the dline and a safety and our defense will be scary again.
January 25th, 2020 at 2:55 pm
watch?v=WPMyRR79K74
ok, put this in youtube….
January 25th, 2020 at 3:07 pm
^ senior bowl live
January 25th, 2020 at 3:30 pm
Dean, SMB, and Davis are why we’re set for corners….just need that Safety, Kyle Dugger to put back there with Whitehead.
January 25th, 2020 at 6:54 pm
You don’t draft rookie corners to play right away – and this is why. You draft guys a year before you need them. Pretty basic stuff that Licht has never seemed to figure out.
January 25th, 2020 at 9:27 pm
He got ripped for the game in Seattle when he was thrown into the fire.
I thought he actually played well covering Lockett well only to be had by Russell Wilson who was on fire…dropping dimes to Lockett even though he was covered.
It wasn’t like Dean was caught out of position.
January 26th, 2020 at 1:26 am
Sign a solid veteran like Mo Claiborne to come in as a mentor and be there to back up the young cornerbacks if they start faltering. He could be had at a fair price and would provide veteran depth of some of our youngsters hit a sophomore slump. Go get Delpit and 14, Dobbins or CEH22 in the second and go all out for o-line and d-line depth with the rest of the picks. Granted all of those moves would be based on bringing our d-line back in tact.
January 26th, 2020 at 1:57 am
It’s beyond cool to see that our secondary is much improved. I hope he keeps it up next year.
January 26th, 2020 at 5:35 am
Veteran present why just to have one do Joe remember the veteran presence which was VH3! Just let these kids grow-up and see what happens!
January 26th, 2020 at 8:57 am
i maybe out to lunch w ith this comment …. aren’t veteran coaches a veteran presence ? don’t the contribute in the room and on the sidelines ?
January 26th, 2020 at 9:20 am
We need veteran talent to be plausible, effective back ups, not starters. Let these guys play and develop. Let’s a find a legitimate safety instead.
January 26th, 2020 at 7:30 pm
Forget bringing in competition. A competent veteran CB will cost no less than $5 mil a year. Joe, best trio of CBs in the league. They improved when the one and only vet was let go. Kevin Ross is the only vet CB that is needed. Let it go and quit pressing to spend money on a position we don’t need. Why pay $5 mil plus for a guy to be a 4th CB? Irrational logic at best. Leave it alone.
January 26th, 2020 at 7:35 pm
This looks like one of the rare occasions that the commentors agree on something unanimously. Except Rod Munch, who doesn’t seem to understand how player development or a salary cap works. Cut the “sign an expensive veteran to be 4th CB” crap and let the best young trio of CBs develop.