The Tampa Bay Buccaneers felt very fortunate that University of Miami defensive back Keionte Scott was still on the board when their pick in the fourth round came up in the NFL Draft two weeks ago. If landing Scott at number 116 overall was like finding a $20 bill on the street, the next question immediately becomes, what are you going to do with it?
The Buccaneers have a lot of options with Scott, though they seem likely to work him early as a slot corner, given how he thrived in that role for the Hurricanes, who reached the national championship game last season. They believe he could settle in at safety at some point, too, and that he has a chance to stick as an outside cornerback. But the discussion goes beyond just Scott's role; the bigger question is how do you mix him in with the existing personnel on defense.
Scott didn't take part in the Bucs' first practice at rookie minicamp on Friday because he is currently sporting a cast on his lower left arm due to a wrist injury. He had a procedure after the NFL Scouting Combine but says he's near the end of his recovery and the cast will come off in 10 days. Even without seeing him in action on Friday, Head Coach Todd Bowles is clearly excited about the ways he can employ his newest defensive back.
"Yeah, we're going to look at him [at outside cornerback]," said Bowles. "We've got to move our guys around, because when you make cuts, you don't have that many. We've got to be able to have some versatile pieces."
Those pieces also include second-year player Jacob Parrish, who held the starting nickel job for most of his rookie season but also ably filled in at outside cornerback when Jamel Dean and/or Zyon McCollum were injured. Dean has since departed but the Bucs still have McCollum and 2025 second-round pick Benjamin Morrison as obvious options on the outside, plus apparently Parrish. In one way, Parrish could be seen as blocking Scott's immediate path to starting in the slot, but there are other ways this could play out.
"[Scott]'s very instinctive, and Parrish was All-Rookie and he's still going to play in there as well, but we're going to get him some more outside reps," said Bowles. "We're going to start Keionte out as nickel and we'll see if he evolves to where that becomes a safety or a corner from that standpoint and go from there. He's really a guy that can play all over the place."