All NFL teams have deficiencies and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ biggest weaknesses pretty clear when looking through the roster.

It’s definitely the cornerback room, where questions run rampant. The Buccaneers don’t have the luxury of having anything locked up, either. Said questions apply from the top-down and only time will tell how everything plays out.

But, the one things that’s for sure is we’ll see more of the same from last year if these guys can’t provide answers in 2026.

Zyon McCollum has to bounce back from a bad 2025 season

It starts at the top with Zyon McCollum, who is coming off the worst starting season of his pro career. From busted assignments to dropped interceptions and then worst of all – a season-ending injury, 2025 was a battle for the soon-to-be fifth-year player.

He has to show he can regain his starting-caliber form or else the Buccaneers’ pass defense will remain the team’s biggest weakness. The good news is he’s still in his prime and this will be Year 5 in the same system, so it’s not like he has to overcome any extra obstacles, or anything like that.

If I were a betting man, I’d wager we see McCollum get back on track. But I don’t have as much faith in the next topic of conversation.

Will Benjamin Morrison stay healthy enough to make an impact?

That’s because the Buccaneers’ next outside corner, Benjamin Morrison, is dealing with yet another hamstring injury that caused him to miss mandatory minicamp. We don’t know the severity of the injury, but the point still stands: Morrsion’s hamstrings aren’t trustworthy at this point in his career and he can’t be counted on to be consistently available.

It’s a shameful thing to say about a player who is just entering the second season of his career, but it’s the unfortunate truth. Regardless, the Buccaneers need him to stay healthy, as he’s expected to play opposite McCollum when Bowles deploys his nickel packages. That’s a lot of snaps, too, as the Bucs defense is in nickel around 60-65% of the time.

Sure, there are alternatives Bowles can shuffle around if Morrison gets hurt again, but that’s not the ideal lineup in the coaching staff’s eyes. Morrison is one of the guys the Buccaneers want to go to war with and anything else isn’t as effective, in their minds.

Jacob Parrish has to take the next step

It’s easy to get excited about Jacob Parrish and there’s plenty of reasons why. He had a strong rookie season, but the Buccaneers need him to take a year-two leap. He has the athletic traits, the IQ, and the mindset needed to play cornerback. His size limitations didn’t keep him from making plays and sticking to receivers, either.

How he handles moving from outside-inside and vice-versa will be intriguing to watch. Last year, he played roughly 20% of snaps on the perimeter of the Buccaneers defense, which is probably less than what he’ll play, this year. It sounds like the plan for Parrish is to be on the field as much as possible, which could certainly help remove the label of “biggest weakness” from this group.

Especially if he makes the jump that’s expected of him.

Keionte Scott is encouraging, but also an unknown

The fourth-round pick out of this year’s draft is a tantalizing talent with 4.3 speed and the physicality of a linebacker. But he’s a Day 3 rookie coming off offseason wrist surgery. How much can he realistically contribute right away?

Scott’s versatility should play a big role in helping him get on the field, but we won’t know how impactful he is until, well, we know. Only time will tell, but the good thing is he’s fully healed from his surgery and will be a full-go for training camp.

The sky is the limit for Scott, but that still doesn’t erase the question of whether he is a net positive or net negative in 2026.

The Buccaneers cornerback depth is terrifying

With all due respect it’s extremely hard to gauge who can actually step up if one of the top-4 guys go down.

Josh Hayes is a good special-teamer, but not a good cornerback. The trio of Kemon Hall, Chase Lucas, and Damarion Williams have logged a total of 417 combined defensive snaps over 76 games, which comes out to about five or six snaps per game, each. And then Ayden Garnes is an undrafted free agent rookie who is a long shot when it comes to making the roster.

Those guys are better suited for special teams and it’s pretty obvious. The collective makes one wonder why the Buccaneers didn’t opt to bring in a guy like Rasul Douglas, who recently signed with the Washington Commanders.

There are major questions littered throughout this group and if the majority of them aren’t answered in a positive fashion then it’s going to be nearly impossible for the Buccaners’ pass defense to bounce back from a bad 2025 season.