Mike Evans Making Zyon McCollum Better
August 6th, 2024
Bucs CB Zyon McCollum.
This is starting to remind Joe of the crash course Tristan Wirfs underwent as a rookie.
When the Bucs drafted Wirfs in 2020, it was in the midst of a global shutdown thanks to The Sickness. The NFL all but shut down, too.
There were no rookie minicamps, no OTAs, no team minicamp, no underwear football of any sort and thankfully what turned into a blessing in disguise, no worthless preseason games.
(Don’t give Joe this noise about how valuable worthless preseason games are. The Bucs last won a Super Bowl without them! As the one and only Chris “Mad Dog” Russo said so succinctly Monday on his SiriusXM Radio show, “These preseason games are a complete waste.”)
So with the Bucs slated to play the slimy Saints to open the 2020 season, Wirfs was looking to take his first NFL snaps against mouthy Cam Jordan before he was washed.
To prepare Wirfs, the Bucs went to Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaq Barrett and told the duo not to let up on the rookie. Use every tool in their toolbox against him. He has to be ready for Week 1.
The plan worked fabulously.
Fast forward to this summer. Todd Bowles months ago anointed Zyon McCollum as the Bucs’ starting corner to replace traded Carlton Davis. Joe was dubious of swapping out a young starting corner and banking on a largely untested youngster.
Maybe this is why McCollum has had the challenge of guarding Mike Evans in training camp. Daily.
McCollum started out camp OK. Not bad. Evans being Evans, he got over on McCollum from time to time. But gradually, McCollum started improving.
McCollum began batting balls away from Evans. He started getting passes defensed against Evans. He started clogging routes preventing Evans from chasing down a pass.
And yes, McCollum has gotten a pick or two battling Evans.
Now Joe is not about to say McCollum has shut down Evans, let’s not get crazy. But he’s making Evans work. That’s promising.
“I’m so fortunate,” McCollum told Joe about having to guard a future Hall of Fame receiver each practice.
McCollum made no secret that facing Evans and his unique skillset has very much raised his game.
In fact, McCollum told Joe that every once in a while at practice, Evans will come up to him and give him tips, telling McCollum what he saw and how he would adjust to McCollum’s tell.
Sometimes after practice, McCollum said he and Evans will have a brainstorming session where McCollum will explain his coverage and Evans will explain his moves.
Iron sharpening iron.
Joe still wants to see McCollum do his job well when the real bullets are flying. So far, it is comforting to see McCollum improve each practice and see his confidence grow.
August 6th, 2024 at 7:08 am
Well I like the preseason games because it gives me something almost, kinda like football while I wait for September. Injuries scare me though. On the other hand, I’ve always said that every game is practice for the next game so in that regard the games are not “worthless” for everyone.
August 6th, 2024 at 7:09 am
“… no worthless preseason games.” D@mn it Joe! You know that nonsense triggers me! LOL.!
August 6th, 2024 at 7:42 am
I like preseason for one thing only and that’s shaping out the roster. Starters should sit to prevent major injury in pointless games. Maybe a series or two for a starter but even then you put them at risk. Find the guys at the bottom of the roster who can make a difference! we can’t let the foot off the gas during this window of opportunity to win another Super Bowl!!
August 6th, 2024 at 7:49 am
They’re not worthless. They’re worth millions to the plutocrats who run the league.
August 6th, 2024 at 7:57 am
They should have maybe ONE preseason game for it’s valid but limited purpose. Having ONLY ONE would actually make it more worth watching actually. Add a second bye week and extend the regular season by a game. This has actually been proposed with two preseason games I believe? and that has some support from the players. But ONE would be an actual event of sorts and be worth looking at for many fans.
August 6th, 2024 at 8:00 am
I speed typed actually twice in one sentence. Shame. Lol
GO BUCS!!!!!!
August 6th, 2024 at 8:07 am
Posted it when they drafted him.
Zyon will be a star.
August 6th, 2024 at 8:11 am
Preseason is important to coaches, players, and fans that appreciate the development and evaluation of young/tryout/bubble players. Also good for teams like ours that are trying to build a their rosters with in-house players.
Zyon McCollum is an example of that as he had a really good pre-season last season which obviously aided in him being the asset he was for us on defense in ’23 and know setting him up to grab the bull by the horns this season. Seems like a smart kid, sounds like he’s taking the opportunity for what it can be which is a chance to make a name and a whole bunch of $’s behind it.
August 6th, 2024 at 8:12 am
Admittedly it galled me Joe that we had to pay full price for each preseason game when I had season tickets, but it was a seller’s market. Still, certain players stood out in the preseason games and ultimately made the team.
Admittedly it was almost always as S/Ts players, but still, they got their foot in the door & some went on to have good careers. As an example, if Christian Izien had shown up prior to the 2020 season instead of the 2023 season, would the Bucs have kept him on the active roster? Probably not, since he wouldn’t have had any opportunities to show that he belonged.
August 6th, 2024 at 8:31 am
Great new photo of Zyon as he looks less like JTS and no PTSD for me! Speaking of iron sharpening iron, it doesn’t always work as JTS works against Wirfs and we know how that’s working out.
August 6th, 2024 at 8:32 am
Joe, I like the “read next” feature link. That has been long overdue.
Good article.
August 6th, 2024 at 8:45 am
5 REASONS WHY I LIKE PRESEASON GAMES …
1. Get to see the new guys we’ve only read about (a lot this year).
2. I get to see my favorite college players realizing their NFL dreams.
3. It puts the smell of football in the air.
4. Reminds me to dig out my Bucs gameday gear.
5. Start cooking my Sunday football food.
August 6th, 2024 at 9:02 am
Great list @SlyPirate, I’ve got to work on my beer collection, wings, Chex Mix, and Clam Dip!
August 6th, 2024 at 9:51 am
Zyon is very fortunate to have great WR’s to match up against in practice every day. That makes playing on Sundays less challenging for sure. I’m excited to see him grow into a top corner. Let’s go Bucs!
August 6th, 2024 at 10:28 am
This may sound nuts (I’m not crazy, my mother had me tested) but I actually enjoy preseason, and here’s the biggest reason why:
Preseason is almost like watching 2 completely different teams in the same season. The team week 1 looks drastically different after cutdowns. It’s almost like a few weeks of constant news, cuts coming, signings coming in – it’s rather exciting. Then when week 1 hits, I can settle into my actual team for that season.
Is the quality of play very good? Of course not, but I still enjoy it.
August 6th, 2024 at 10:31 am
Reading up on notes on the Falcons and offense seems to be clicking with both qb’s…… But they have some very weak links on defense which includes Edge and Cornerbacks. Looking forward to see if Steelers will take them out Week 1.
August 6th, 2024 at 10:44 am
Bucs pass defense with Bowles and no pass rush will be the reason they only win 5 or 6 games. His pass defensive scheme is pathetic.
August 6th, 2024 at 10:56 am
This article gave me a chubby. Wow. LFG!!!!!!!
August 6th, 2024 at 1:00 pm
Love it! Evans is a great leader giving McCollum tips of what he saw, adjustments, and brainstorming. Like the new photo of Zyon too. Cannot wait to see how he does this season.
August 6th, 2024 at 2:05 pm
Preseason games aren’t worthless but they should definitely charge a lot less to go see them. I can’t believe tickets are full price. It’s definitely a huge rip off. I got preseason tickets as a gift one time and had to fake like I was pretty excited to get them and act more thankful than I really was. Yeah, I sound like a pretty douchey ingrate but at least I wasn’t spending my own money. The person didn’t know any better and I still went to the game, but it wasn’t close to the same.
August 6th, 2024 at 6:12 pm
If preseason games are wrong, I don’t want to be right.