The Buccaneers entered training camp with a clear issue at cornerback, and the first week has only sharpened it. Zyon McCollum remains the team’s top option on the outside, but behind him the group is already stretched thin, with two second-year players battling for roles while dealing with injury setbacks of their own.
Jacob Parrish missed the team periods Sunday and Monday before returning Tuesday night, while Benjamin Morrison is still working back from another hamstring injury suffered during offseason workouts. Morrison sat out minicamp and the start of camp, and so far his work has been limited to individual drills. That has pushed even more attention toward the depth pieces trying to take advantage of the extra snaps.
One of those players is Damarion “Pepe” Williams, and he has quietly become a name to watch. Williams spent much of the 2025 season on Tampa Bay’s practice squad, but he’s getting a much bigger opportunity now with Morrison out and Parrish limited. The former Ravens fourth-round pick from Houston has bounced around the league since Baltimore took him in 2022, spending time with the Seahawks’ practice squad in 2024 before landing with the Buccaneers a month later.
Williams has appeared in 15 NFL games without a start. As a rookie with Baltimore, he posted 24 tackles, a tackle for loss and two passes defensed in 14 games.
He also allowed 25 catches on 36 targets for 290 yards and three touchdowns. Since then, he has played in only one game.
Still, camp has given him a real opening, and he’s making the most of it. Early on, Williams was beaten by Jalen McMillan on a deep route.
A couple days later, he answered with a leaping pass breakup when Baker Mayfield went back deep for McMillan again. In the same practice, Williams also broke up a deep throw intended for Emeka Egbuka.
Then on Thursday, he came off the corner on a blitz and got to Jake Browning for what would have been a sack.
Todd Bowles has noticed the work.
“He’s been playing well all camp. It’s really good to see him in pads,” Bowles said after the first padded practice Monday morning.
“He’s shown up, and he’s done all the little things. Obviously, from last year being on the practice squad, he’s stepping up and making a serious push to try to make this team.
It’s very early, but we’ve noticed him.”
Williams entered camp as a longshot, so the path ahead is straightforward and demanding. He has to keep stacking strong days, help on special teams, handle the joint practices against the Jets and Jaguars, and carry that momentum into preseason games. Rookie Ayden Garnes may still have the edge among the unheralded corners, but Williams has forced his way into the conversation.
In Other News...
Buccaneers Suddenly Have A Benjamin Morrison Problem In Camp
Benjamin Morrison was supposed to be one of the Buccaneers young cornerbacks to watch, but injuries have already complicated that plan. The second-round pick from 2025 never really got rolling last season, and the same issue has carried into 2026 training camp, leaving Tampa Bay in a familiar spot of having to sort through its secondary without knowing exactly when, or how often, Morrison will be available.
Meanwhile, the competition behind him is not waiting around. Keionte Scott, Damarion Williams and undrafted corner Ayden Garnes have all been putting together strong camp stretches, which only adds pressure to a depth chart that still feels unsettled. For the Buccaneers, the bigger concern is not just Morrisons health in the moment, but what his absence means for his longer-term hold on a role that was supposed to be his to grow into. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Camp Is Creating Early Winners And Losers On Defense
Eight practices into training camp, the Buccaneers are already getting a clearer sense of which young defenders are pushing their way into the conversation. David Walker, Rueben Bain Jr., Josiah Trotter and Ayden Garnes have all turned heads early, giving Tampa Bay some encouraging depth looks as the defense ramps up toward joint practices with the Jets and the preseason opener.
Not every camp story has been a rise, though, and the early grouping of winners and losers is being shaped by availability as much as performance. Benjamin Morrison has been working through a nagging hamstring issue and has slipped behind in the outside cornerback competition, while Devin Culp has also had a tougher time keeping pace. For a team trying to sort out roles before the preseason games begin, those early absences can matter almost as much as the highlights. [Read more 🡒]