The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are banking on Zyon McCollum to answer one of their biggest defensive questions in 2026.
McCollum arrived in Tampa Bay as a fifth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, a raw but highly intriguing corner from Sam Houston State. The athletic profile was impossible to miss.
At the time he was drafted, his Relative Athletic Score ranked No. 1 among 2,001 cornerback prospects from 1987 to 2022, and he earned a 10 RAS out of a possible 10.00. That kind of upside gave Todd Bowles a player with the physical tools to develop into a starter.
The early returns were uneven. McCollum started only three games as a rookie and nine as a sophomore.
Then came the jump in 2024, when he opened all 17 games and finished third in the NFL with 17 passes defensed. That season changed his standing inside the organization and helped lead to a three-year, $48 million extension last offseason.
But last year brought a step back. McCollum gave up a career-high six touchdowns in coverage, and that regression is a big reason cornerback remains the Buccaneers’ biggest question mark heading into 2026. Tampa Bay is still counting on him to be the No. 1 cornerback of the future, and the margin for error is getting smaller.
FanSided’s Mike Phillips picked McCollum as Tampa Bay’s biggest breakout candidate for the 2026 season, writing, “McCollum, a former fifth round pick, is set to be Tampa's top corner and could make quite an impact with expanded playing time after recording 32 passes defensed in the past three seasons combined,”
The pressure around him is only growing. McCollum is entering his fourth season with a significant salary, and the Buccaneers are not in a position to wait around for much longer. Todd Bowles’ seat is scorching hot, and another underwhelming showing from the defense would only make things tougher.
The depth chart behind McCollum doesn’t offer much comfort, either. The starting spot opposite him is still unsettled, with second-year corners Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish competing for the job.
Morrison missed seven games because of injury last season and dealt with the usual rookie mistakes when he played. Parrish, meanwhile, stood out as the team’s starting nickel corner and is now getting a shot to move outside in his second year.
Both are promising, but both are still unproven. With no established veteran presence in the room, McCollum has to be the stabilizing force. If he gets back to the level he showed in 2024, it would go a long way toward settling a major concern for Tampa Bay’s defense.
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