What Jason Licht's Staff Quietly Revealed About the Buccaneers During the Draft

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers came into the NFL Draft needing help in a lot of areas of the defense. They came out of it drafting four defensive players to address those needs.

The Bucs took Miami standout Rueben Bain Jr. with the No. 15 pick of the draft, who should be an immediate impact player for Tampa Bay. Additionally, they added Missouri linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, who should also start in 2026, and they took athletic standout DeMonte Capehart out of Clemson in the fifth round to bolster their defensive front.

They also took another Miami star in cornerback Keionte Scott, however, to bolster the secondary. And based on what one of Jason Licht's key staffers said after the draft concluded, his arrival might signify another shakeup in Tampa Bay's secondary this upcoming season.

Jacob Parrish set to move outside for Buccaneers?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Jacob Parrish (25) celebrates with defensive tackle Vita Vea (50) after he made a sack | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Scott is a hard-hitting cornerback with lots of blitz acumen, and he played a lot of football at the nickel position at Miami. Buccaneers assistant general manager Rob McCartney, who serves as one of GM Jason Licht's closest confidants, told reporters after the draft that the team seeks to develop Scott as a nickel at the next level.

"He has played outside. I think him playing nickel this year was probably the best thing that's happened to him, because that is where he's really at his best," McCartney said. "We had some conversations during draft meetings about him maybe being a safety, too, so we'll kind of figure this out as we go here with him. But I think he's a really good nickel that can play other spots, too."

The nickel position was held down by Jacob Parrish last year, who played quite well in it — he had two sacks, seven tackles for loss and two interceptions in the role. But if Scott were to play nickel, he'd take Parrish's job, and it would leave Parrish to bounce outside. Parrish doing that could potentially shake up the outside cornerback room quite a bit, as he's likely to unseat at least one player there.

Heading into the offseason, the Bucs had Zyon McCollum and Benjamin Morrison set to start on the outside. McCollum has been up and down as a corner after signing a big contract extension at the start of the season, while Morrison was often injured during his rookie season. With Parrish now potentially bouncing outside, one of those two players could find themselves on the outside looking in once the season starts if Parrish can win one of those jobs.

Parrish is a little short for an outside corner at 5-10, but his athleticism is excellent and he has the vertical jumping ability to keep up with plenty of NFL wideouts. Parrish played outside twice last season, and he faired admirably both times, even grabbing an interception over the much-larger Tet McMillan in Week 18 vs. the Carolina Panthers.

The Buccaneers needed some outside cornerback depth heading into the draft. But in adding Scott and putting him in the nickel role, they may have quietly gotten a big piece for the outside cornerback room with Parrish.

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