The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on a two-game skid following their bye week and are looking to reverse their recent drop in defensive play.
The New England Patriots and, even more so, the Buffalo Bills, have been able to exploit the Buccaneers' secondary, but against the Bills, it was disastrous, with Jamel Dean leaving the game with a hip injury.
With Dean potentially missing the Bucs' upcoming matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, the question is, will rookie Benjamin Morrison be the guy to fill the role left by Dean? One Tampa Bay legend, Ronde Barber, doesn't think it should be, as he made the case for another rookie, Jacob Parrish, to assume the outside corner role, highlighting the woes that Morrison has shown early in his NFL career.
Benjamin Morriso
Nov 16, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills wide receiver Tyrell Shavers (14) is knocked out of bounds by Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Benjamin Morrison (21) Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
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“Limit [Morrison’s] snaps because Benjamin Morrison, I think, he’s going to be a good player, but there’s a lot of busts happening right now. The game almost seems too big for him. There’s moments in the game that seem too big,” Barber said on his show, the Ronder Barber Show. “There’s some things that he does technically, too, Benjamin Morrison. …Like he takes too many steps off the line of scrimmage when he’s in man coverage. He takes too many steps when he’s transitioning. Those things get you when teams are going to start targeting you.”
The Bucs drafted Morrison and Parrish, respectively, in the second and third rounds of this past April's NFL Draft. Parrish immediately became the Buccaneers' starting nickel cornerback and has flashed in his role. Meanwhile, Morrison came to the Bucs coming off surgery for a hip condition before being brought along slowly as a rotational corner on the outside.
Morrison has started to see more playing time in recent weeks, but there have been plenty of times when he has not been able to get the job done. With Dean on the sideline, it is worth wondering if head coach Todd Bowles should move Parrish to the outside, something he is familiar with from his days at Kansas State. In that case, Morrison could still rotate in and either have Tykee Smith move down from his safety position or former undrafted corner Christian Izien to fill the role of nickel.
It will be interesting to see what Bowles and company end up deciding to do with Dean sidelined, but the overall consensus seems to be that putting Morrison on the outside could be a huge issue against an offense like the Rams.
Tampa Bay drafted Morrison for a reason, so there is no reason to worry about him potentially being a bust quite yet. He's still learning the game after not playing for some time due to his hip condition. The speed of the game, coupled with being able to diagnose and understand Bowles' defense as a rookie, is a challenge, so it will be best if we save our takes on Morrison until we get to see him further entrenched in this defense.
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