The Tampa Bay Buccaneers debate at cornerback this offseason might be over before any competition has begun. According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, second-year cornerback Jacob Parrish appears to have a strong hold on the outside job.
“In the secondary, coach Todd Bowles has no reservations playing second-year corner Jacob Parrish on the outside this season despite his 5-foot-10 frame,” wrote Fowler. “Benjamin Morrison was banged up but has returned. Parrish playing outside frees up fourth-round rookie Keionte Scott to play the slot. Damarion Williams is getting some run at the outside corner spot, too. Regardless, the spot opposite Zyon McCollum must be earned in camp.”
Fowler made it clear that competition was still going on, but the progression of Parrish has been hard to miss. He was a starter on the outside to begin camp, and over a week into practice has led to no change.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Second-Year CB Jacob Parrish is Pushing for Outside Starting Job
GettyTampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Jacob Parrish.
Parrish has taken an interesting career path here. He was an outside cornerback at Kansas State. However, he fell into the third round because there were fears of him translating to the outside in the NFL due to his size. So, the Bucs took him 84th overall and stuck him in the slot during his rookie year.
Parrish played 747 total snaps as a rookie, and only 127 of them were on the outside. Now, the expectation is for him to start on the outside.
However, he will only play on the outside in base personnel looks. When the team has two cornerbacks on the field, he will be one of them and will play on the outside. However, when the team goes into nickel and an extra defensive back comes out, right now that player will be Benjamin Morrison.
Morrison was taken in the second round last year and would handle outside duties.
The team has flirted with the idea of playing rookie Keionte Scott over Morrison as well. Scott would stay in the slot and keep Parrish on the outside. So, the competition at camp is more about Scott against Morrison than it is Parrish against either.
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In a perfect world, they would like Morrison to win the spot. They took him high last year, and his potential remains sky-high. His only real question is injuries. He only played 360 snaps last year, and almost all of that is injury-related. He has also been banged up to start training camp. This is what opened the door so wide for Parrish.
So, even if Morrison does get healthy and earn the job they would want him in a limited role. Still, he has not earned the starting work yet either. Scott was a fourth-round pick, and he is still a rookie, so it might be hard for him to win the job by Week 1. However, the team is clearly high on him, and they are giving him chances to prove himself from the first day of training camp.
The team would not want to overwhelm the rookie and put too much on his plate, but they have needed him to jump in due to the unavailability of Morrison. If he can prove he is durable and show as much potential as Morrison, there is no reason for the team to leave him on the bench.
Parrish will start; the question is who the third cornerback is.
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