Bucs Might Be Building Solid Corner Depth
August 2nd, 2024
Veteran cornerback Tavierre Thomas.
The Bucs knew they had a lousy pass defense last year. Boy, did they attack repairing it this offseason.
The big names were safety Jordan Whitehead and rookie edge rusher Chris Braswell. One, hopefully, will affect the quarterback. Whitehead can affect an entire offense.
But there were many other little moves. Veteran corner Bryce Hall was one. It seems undrafted free agent Tyrek Funderburk (App State) might push for a roster spot. Funderburk has been holding his own against the quality Bucs receivers. And really under-the-radar signing was veteran cornerback Tavierre Thomas, late of Houston.
Thomas started five games for the Texans last year, a playoff team that advanced to the divisional round just like the Bucs.
Todd Bowles said yesterday he knew Thomas was good on special teams. But Bowles confessed Thomas is making a case for snaps on defense, too.
“Defensively, he’s been doing an outstanding job,” Bowles said. “He gets his hands on balls, whether it’s safety or nickel. He’s been showing up on tape.
“We knew about the toughness part of it. We didn’t know about the defensive part of it all – the way he studies. The defense is getting slower for him and he’s playing faster and it’s showing.”
Well, you can’t have too many competent corners — that’s a page right out of the Father Dungy playbook.
And while Zyon McCollum seems to be getting better and better by each practice — it helps facing Mike Evans multiple times a day — let’s be real; McCollum is a first-year starter. He’s an open book.
So with Hall and Thomas, the Bucs can lean on a pair of savvy veterans, one of which started for a playoff team last year.
August 2nd, 2024 at 4:24 am
Tavierre Thomas had a heck of a game last year in the Texans’ win against against the Bucs … 1 TFL, 1 FF, 10 tackles (6 solo). It just seemed like he was everywhere. Sounds like he’s having a good camp.
August 2nd, 2024 at 7:51 am
Thomas played in 9 games in 2023 for the Texans and had 51 combined tackles and only one pass defended. Looks to me like he was brought in on running situations as if teams were avoiding him due to being a lock down corner he would have played a lot more.
Mayfield had a pretty good day against the Texans Best secondary so a guy down the depth chart of a team that gave up the 10th most yards might be stretching it with a claim that he might make a big difference. At best he will take some wear and tear off the starters in run support.
August 2nd, 2024 at 8:14 am
I think our secondary will be in fine shape if we can muster a pass rush.
August 2nd, 2024 at 9:07 am
Rich people problems…Love. It.
August 2nd, 2024 at 9:40 am
Thomas has had a great camp. Another CB who is definitely worth mentioning is Keenan Isaac, a 2nd year guy who deserves some pub.
August 2nd, 2024 at 9:59 am
Corner is going to be just fine. It’s ILB that worries me.
August 2nd, 2024 at 10:34 am
@Stanglassman
I really like Isaac, kind of excited to see how he & Funderburk do this preseason.
August 2nd, 2024 at 10:53 am
Bryce Hall is not a good NFL player. Stop it. I believe we are absolutely at at safety and nickel, but we have literally zero depth at outside corner. That’s a massive problem given the injury history of one Jamel Dean. No amount of smoke at a presser is going to change any of this.
August 2nd, 2024 at 11:13 am
About time — last few years the depth has been horrible as we saw basically non-stop between Carlton Davis and Jamel Dean being injured.
Zyon definitely has a very high ceiling with that athleticism, but he was very average last year.
Defense is going to be about how much Kancey, Hall, Diaby, JTS, and Braswell improve over the year and if they can stay healthy.
August 2nd, 2024 at 6:43 pm
Love reading this.
Especially since our pass rush is a giant question mark at the moment.
August 3rd, 2024 at 4:28 am
As long as MasturMind ensures they know what switches to make and when in zone, gonna be just fine.