(Note: The Salty Dogs is a long-running podcast produced by Buccaneer staffers Jeff Ryan and Scott Smith on a weekly basis during the regular season, frequently featuring Tampa Bay players as guests. The following is excerpted from this week's interview on the podcast with cornerback Zyon McCollum.)
At the 2022 NFL scouting combine, the group of cornerback prospects was headlined by Sauce Gardner, Derek Stingley and Trent McDuffie. All three were eventually selected in the top 21 picks in that year's draft – Stingley and Gardner went third and fourth, respectively – and all three have quickly blossomed into legitimate NFL stars.
Zyon McCollum wasn't one of the big names in that group coming into the week, primarily because he played in an FCS program at Sam Houston State. However, he had a little more name recognition coming out of the Combine after he scored a perfect 10/10 on the Relative Athletic Score, or "RAS," a metric devised by Kent Lee Platte. There were 2,001 cornerback prospects tested at the Combine between 1987 and 2022, and McCollum was the first to notch a perfect RAS.
It wasn't enough to vault McCollum into the first two days of the draft, but it was enough to have his name screaming out on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' draft board when the fifth round rolled around. Minor problem: The Buccaneers didn't own a fifth-round pick, having traded theirs to the New England Patriots a month earlier for guard Shaq Mason. Refusing to let the opportunity slip past them, the Bucs sent a 2023 fourth-round pick to Jacksonville for the 14th selection in the fifth round and used it on McCollum.
The Bucs had their starting cornerbacks in place already, so McCollum wasn't asked to start right away, and when he did get in on defense as a rookie it was the sort of up-and-down experience one would expect from such an untested player. In 2023, Carlton Davis and Jamel Dean continued to occupy the starting outside corner spots, but both players missed enough time due to injury to let McCollum start nine games and actually play the most defensive snaps of any cornerback on the roster.
The Bucs were pleased by what they saw from McCollum in those extended fill-in stints – Head Coach Todd Bowles was particularly impressed and became the young corrner's most vocal supporter – to the extent that they made a bold move to start the 2024 offseason. Carlton Davis was traded to the Detroit Lions for a third-round pick and McCollum was anointed the starter. He had the whole offseason to get ready for the new role, so when the regular season arrived he was brimming with confidence, which is particularly important for a cornerback.
"I knew the step that I had to take and the shoes that I had to fill, and I was pumped for it," said McCollum. "I trained all offseason for it and I was mentally prepared. So the first game happened and I was ready to go for it."
The Buccaneers won their opener against Washington in fairly easy fashion but then faced a huge challenge in Week Two with a trip back to Detroit, where they had been eliminated from the playoffs the year before. The Bucs kept the Lions' explosive offense in check in a 20-16 win and McCollum had a huge game, recording four passes defensed and his first career interception. He had a pair of pass breakups in three of the Bucs' next four games as well and is currently tied for third in the NFL in that category. His team-leading second interception, in New Orleans in Week Six, was a key play in the Bucs' important division victory.
McCollum says he has learned how to put his top-level athleticism into play, turning it into an advantage against many opponents.
"I think just mentally the approach I've taken to the game, and understanding my athleticism and how it matches up with the rest of the league," he said. "The more I understand that, and what I can get away with, things I can do to take advantage of some of the athleticism I have is making me turn into the type of player that I envision myself as."
McCollum has given the Bucs no reason to regret the trade of Davis, which netted the pick that turned into wide receiver Jalen McMillan. McCollum appears to be emerging as an above-average player at one of the game's most difficult positions, and those are not easy to find.
"I'd say I'm starting to find some success," said McCollum. "Of course, I'm always looking to improve. I'm always looking to put my best foot forward and continue to be the best person that I can be. I'm not satisfied, but I'm allowing myself to be comfortable with how I'm playing and continue to look for improvement."
