Todd Bowles: Zyon McCollum And Jamel Dean Cover As Well As Carlton Davis
November 15th, 2023
Second-year cornerback Zyon McCollum.
Don’t shoot the messenger here. This comment came from the Buccaneers’ defensive guru, a man who played defensive back in the NFL and coached it for decades.
That man is head coach Todd Bowles.
He was asked on the Buccaneers Radio Network yesterday about shutting down Titans receivers on Sunday, including stud DeAndre Hopkins (3 catches for 27 yards), while missing starting cornerback Carlton Davis.
Bowles acted as if Davis being out wasn’t a loss.
“Well, [Jamel] Dean and Zyon [McCollum] can play man just as good as Carlton, you know,” Bowles replied.
“Again, the pass rush had a a lot to do with that [success], as well. They go hand and hand. … But Dean and Zyon did a heck of a job. You know, just going back and looking at the film, covering 1-on-1 when they had to. They were getting hands on [Hopkins], which was real big. He makes great catches. He’s a great receiver. I have a lot of respect for him, but I thought they did a good job.”
Joe will take the positive track here. It’s damn stunning that Bowles and his staff have developed McCollum into a guy who can cover as well as Davis, who has a strong résumé.
If this is accurate, it’s awfully hard to imagine the Bucs keeping both Dean and Davis on the roster next season given their massive contracts.
November 15th, 2023 at 9:39 am
Zyon is better than Davis. Hell, I might cover better than Davis.
November 15th, 2023 at 9:40 am
Is that suppose to be a good thing
November 15th, 2023 at 9:47 am
They all suck in zone coverage, which the Bucs had been using more
November 15th, 2023 at 9:51 am
Glad we paid Carlton all that money.
November 15th, 2023 at 9:56 am
McCollum is still improving, but he has one thing Davis does not: speed.
November 15th, 2023 at 9:56 am
@Joe
Didn’t Bowles said for the Houston game that he played cover because they couldn’t play man to man?
November 15th, 2023 at 9:59 am
Plus Zyon is more physical and at least willing to take on a collision. Davis thinks that’s someone else’s job. Reminds me of when Kiffin used to preach that CBs scared to tackle RBs won’t be playing for him. Bowles and Licht need to understand that before paying a guy 20mil a year.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:05 am
I don’t understand why we pay all that money for our DBs to play 10 yards off the line in soft zone coverage. If they are that good they should be playing more press coverage and man. Hard to understand what Bowles is doing. The other thing is with the exception of Winfield, can any of these guys fight off blocks from WRs and tackle RBs on bubble screens?
November 15th, 2023 at 10:07 am
One or both of them are always hurt so we need all of them. Fortunately Zion is on a cheap rookie contract which brings down the average cost of each contract. Our secondary is our greatest strength, as it should be with Bowles the head coach, a former DB himself. I remember him playing for the Redskins because I am originally from DC and was a huge Redskins fan before moving down to Florida. Once Daniel Snyder bought them that was the end for me. I always hated that arrogant little pr!ck
November 15th, 2023 at 10:16 am
With one of the worst pass D’s in the league, at least on paper this looks like our biggest mismanagement of resources/cap space. I don’t know how their contracts are structured but dumping one of them / Gage / the Brady hit we’re taking this year will help a lot in roster construction next year
November 15th, 2023 at 10:18 am
Davis is a good cover corner , but a terrible finisher( which makes him not so good) and Dean is the same . They just don’t finish opportunities to not allow a catch or make a better play on the ball which would create turn overs . Hell they both allow big plays where they just kinda let up , the team just doesn’t have Grit and that’s the way they finish . Soft Soft Soft Children in a Man’s game . Ok they played with a lil grit against the titans , we’ll look at the results !! Very Mentally Weak defense with no Selmons, or Suhs or Nickersons …… more Eric Curry and Keith McCants than Jordan Whitehead !! McCoy great Guy but look at what Arians accomplished with swapping him out with Suh !! McCoy was a cancer Suh was a vitamin a human steroid to others . it’s not all talent !! Mentality makes talented players reach their potential and avg players be above avg , but also raises the level around them !! Devin White is a big mouth, loafing , un prepared , non covering poison ….. Not half as tough as Hardy N , Not half as Tech and prepared a S Quarles , not near as talented a D Brooks or L David ………. But the ladders wouldn’t matter if he was as Tough and Real Man Football Guy as Hardy Nickerson !! He’s NOT even close and he is your #1 Gerald McCoy poison and why this D will be soft until he is gone along with JTS . Don’t kid yourself Suh was the T Brady of the D .
November 15th, 2023 at 10:23 am
Now we just gotta actually play man coverage more often than zone and we might have a shot at this division…
November 15th, 2023 at 10:27 am
He has said a couple of times in the recent past he’s been playing zone this year because others in the secondary not named “Davis” or “Dean” can’t play man. Doesn’t make a lick of sense.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:27 am
Hmmm…. Is Bowels sending a not so subtle message to Davis that he needs to elevate his game?
November 15th, 2023 at 10:44 am
Zyon put in a lot of time over the summer. He lived at OneBuc and studied his craft. We should be excited about him.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:49 am
Winfield is the only one worth a crap in that secondary. Dude is a baller and one of the only true DOGS on our D. ZM is still not good but he’s better than his awful rookie season last year. I dont understand JL, Bucs and Bowles. You pay CD and JD all that money and IMO they are not worth it. Still, you sign them to 2nd contracts but they play 8 to 10 yards off the ball. Horrible coaching and scheme for the back end. Just god awful. They need to trade one or both those guys once the new league year starts in March, prior to the draft. Not worth the money. NO FRIGGIN WAY.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:50 am
Say what you want about Dean but I’ve never seen him get burnt like CD3….Id argue Dean is our best corner.
November 15th, 2023 at 11:16 am
Two weeks ago we were told that Dean and Davis were the only players on the roster that could play press-man, which is why they were playing off-man and zone. So which is it?
Sounds to me like the problem is the players can’t overcome a crappy game plan. Sounds to me like the players told the coach how they wanted to play, not how the coach wanted them to play. Now all of the sudden there is playable depth at positions that somehow the head coach didn’t know existed.
This is why I refuse to blame some of these players for team/scheme results on the field.
November 15th, 2023 at 11:30 am
“he has said a couple of times in the recent past he’s been playing zone this year because others in the secondary not named “Davis” or “Dean” can’t play man.”
So basically Ryan Neal/Dee Delaney? The loss of Mike Edwards/Keanu Neal has hurt this defense greatly.
November 15th, 2023 at 11:30 am
When Dean went down vs Houston we were left with Zyon and Carlton and that was still a hot mess so…
November 15th, 2023 at 11:38 am
Dean went down in Houston while getting beat for a TD…
November 15th, 2023 at 11:40 am
There is always a lot of coded cloudiness to Bowles words. He says he had to play Dean and Davis in those soft zones to compensate for those who can’t play man, but that created a problem where our corners were put in useless positions. You can’t tell me that we can’t play man on the outside and some kind of combos in the middle. Just watch out for the sneaky pics. White can’t cover? Fine. Blitz him. We can still salvage this season. Bowles isn’t going to keep his job if he doesn’t take a few risks.
November 15th, 2023 at 11:42 am
Zyon has been a pleasant surprise.
November 15th, 2023 at 11:47 am
The question I have is, all times that the Bucs played zone we got torched on defense. When they went back to man coverage they looked like a decent defense. Then I heard the chatter that Davis and Dean were better and more comfortable at man then zone. So what the hell was Bowles thinking about. I know the Titans isn’t a good team at the moment but, they also held Henry to less than 50 years if not mistaking
November 15th, 2023 at 12:01 pm
Davis and Dean are enigmas that have gotten so many passes and second chances with this team. They miss multiple games each season, struggle if there is no pass rush, and are notorious for busting on big plays at the end of games. No one benefitted more from Brady’s presence than Dean and Davis. They arent getting younger. Change coming next season.
November 15th, 2023 at 12:01 pm
” Joe Says:
November 15th, 2023 at 10:27 am
Didn’t Bowles said for the Houston game that he played cover because they couldn’t play man to man?
He has said a couple of times in the recent past he’s been playing zone this year because others in the secondary not named “Davis” or “Dean” can’t play man. Doesn’t make a lick of sense.”
Is there not a way to have a hybrid between man and zone?
November 15th, 2023 at 12:02 pm
I believe Davis’ contract was only guaranteed for the first 2 years of his 3 year contract. My guess with a lot of big names needing to sign contract this coming year, Davis could be cut.
November 15th, 2023 at 12:05 pm
Henry is still a good RB. Holding him to under 40 yard is impressive and Levi’s has been good before he faced us so I am impressed with this win. If we can get a similar effort this week it will be a dogfight on Sunday. The 49ers aren’t as good as they were last year. LFG!!
November 15th, 2023 at 2:48 pm
Three pretty good big outside corners. That is what you need! Two pretty good DTs, too. If the OLBs can start wreaking a little havoc this defense can be as good as anyone’s, imo.
Back on the bandwagon!
November 15th, 2023 at 3:38 pm
Bucs are going to need a lot of new folks next year. Having players that are only good at 1 thing makes it difficult to build a team. If they are spectacular at it, they can be a good piece to the puzzle, but with players that are not flexible, everyone in the league will know what that player is doing. These guys need to be able to do multiple things on the field. Zone/Man/Stopping the Run/Blitzing/etc…., even play the other side of the ball. They need to be football players, not so specialized. The folks with specific talents can be brought in at the end to finish off the build of a good team. We don’t have a lot of flexible pieces right now.
November 15th, 2023 at 4:29 pm
If Bowles is being truthful, i trust his opinion. He does some questionable stuff as a HC, but the guy knows his stuff on defense. Especially DBs.
November 15th, 2023 at 11:43 pm
Didn’t Bowles said for the Houston game that he played cover because they couldn’t play man to man?
He has said a couple of times in the recent past he’s been playing zone this year because others in the secondary not named “Davis” or “Dean” can’t play man. Doesn’t make a lick of sense.
So play the guys that CAN play man. Duh!!
All this looking in a mirror talk for the players, I think Bowles needs a long hard STARE!!!!!
November 16th, 2023 at 7:45 pm
So Dean can play man…
Davis can play man…
McCollum can play man…
Winfield can play man…
But Bowles said he couldn’t play too much man coverage b/c not everyone out there can… so now a single safety is dictating our defensive scheme? JFC.