Believes the secondary has improved.
The last two seasons, the Bucs had a bottom-five pass defense in terms of yards allowed through the air per game.
Joe thought with a defensive-minded head coach, and a former NFL defensive back who won a ring, that statistic is shameful.
It seemed Bucs coach Todd Bowles was fed up with it, too. The Bucs drafted two corners on Day 2 of the draft. Things have to look up for the secondary, right?
Bryce Hall believes fortunes will rise for the Bus secondary. Hall, who is having a really solid camp, explained how drafting Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish gave the Bucs secondary a needed jolt.
“[Those] guys love football,” Hall explained. “When you love something, you learn it at a higher rate. Jacob Parrish, ‘B-Mo’ (Benjamin Morrison), all those dudes are smart, and they are getting it.
“They love playing football, and I think that goes a long way. It helps some of us older guys, veterans, being able to bring them along in that process. They can process well, they [are] really smart — I feel like everybody in the secondary is really smart — so it has not been too much of an issue to take that next step.”
Even Hall noted that the Bucs’ pass defense had to improve if the Bucs were to reach their goal of putting together a playoff run.
“I think we know and have a good understanding of the defense — at least for me, just having another year in the system, learning and seeing things,” Hall said. “When everyone has another year in the system, things naturally grow and get better.”
Obviously, the star rookie in training camp for the Bucs is Emeka Egbuka. But there is another rookie who is making splash plays regularly. That would be Parrish.
Parrish seemed to be all over the place this morning. But Joe has to temper Parrish’s strong morning because it was underwear football.
Still, even in pads, Parrish has been making his share of plays.
Joe typed the following this morning but Joe will repeat it. Bucs coach Todd Bowles seems to think Parrish is a nickel corner. The way he has been practicing, Joe thinks Parrish needs to be on the field full-time on Sundays.
Maybe Bowles ought to start Parrish at outside corner and move McCollum to slot? Joe has nothing against McCollum but if Parrish can string together plays on Sundays like he’s doing in training camp, he needs to be on the field all the time, not some of the time.