Undrafted Bucs rookie cornerback Ayden Garnes today practicing in New Jersey.
Joe hasn’t written much about undrafted rookie cornerback Ayden Garnes for a couple of reasons.
First, he was an undrafted rookie out of the University of Arizona and he wasn’t coming off an injury last season. So why wasn’t the highly-athletic Garnes drafted? Joe needed to see Garnes do something especially impressive (more than some good practices) before beginning to drool.
Today, the drool started flowing a little, especially given the injuries to Buccaneers cornerbacks Benjamin Morrison (hamstring) and Zyon McCollum (unknown).
Garnes had a day practicing against the Jets in New Jersey. The Bucs were thin at corner and Garnes and Demarion Williams (who?) got a good share of first-team work.
To close practice, the first-team Jets offense was given the ball at their 20 yard line with timeouts and 1:06 on the clock.
On the second play of the drive after a dropped Jets pass, Geno Smith came out throwing to Jets stud receiver Garrett Wilson, who has three 1,000-yard receiving seasons in four NFL years. Garnes had him blanketed and broke up the pass on the left sideline. The Bucs’ bench erupted.
The Jets limped closer to midfield with about 15 seconds on the clock. Smith dropped back to pass — and back to his top target, Wilson. Again, Garnes was all over Wilson and cleanly broke up the pass; he didn’t just get in the way. On the Jets’ final play, as Joe detailed, Rueben Bain recorded his second sack of the drive. The Jets were done.
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles noted the strong Garnes play against Wilson but said Garnes still has much to learn.
Of course he does, but there is room for optimism.
Not long ago in 2023, then-rookie cornerback/safety Christian Izien played 17 games and had two interceptions and a solid share of big plays. The way things are going with the Bucs’ health, Garnes may land in the spotlight quickly.
Big preseason game upcoming for the rookie.