The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a need at corner. With Zyon McCollum finally coming into his own and Jamel Dean’s status uncertain heading into free agency, Tampa Bay has a hole at the position it desperately needs to address, and many NFL prospects at the position are hoping to be the one to fill that need.
One of those prospects is Kansas cornerback Cobee Bryant, who has been shooting up draft boards as of late. Bryant plays with great length and generates plenty of turnovers, netting 13 interceptions during his career in Kansas with the Jayhawks — a prime candidate to be a “ballhawk” Todd Bowles talked about wanting at the beginning of the week.
And if the Buccaneers like that about Bryant, the good news is that he likes them, too. When asked if Bryant met with the Buccaneers, he not only responded with yes, but mentioned that his interview with Tampa Bay was his favorite one so far.
“That was the best one. That was fun,” Bryant said. “The energy it had, it was fun.”
Bryant has the ballhawking skills and has done well as a run defender at Kansas, but a big knock on him is his size. Bryant is 5’11” and just 171 pounds, making him very thin for an NFL corner. But that doesn’t bother Bryant — in fact, he uses it as motivation.
“I see a lot of comments. I’m a social media guy — I see a lot of comments. That kind of motivates me a lot, seeing bad comments, what people say. It kinda keeps me going. I’m so active, I’m ready to prove the world wrong. That’s one of my main focuses, proving the world [wrong].
The Buccaneers could use a ballhawk like Bryant who carries a tough attitude in his approach to the position. He certainly seems like he’d like to play in Tampa Bay, but whether or not the Buccaneers want to or are able to draft him remains to be seen until April.
