With the NFL adapting the same sort of forward-thinking approach to the game that took Major League Baseball by storm, there’s been a shift in thinking about a lot of different ways of building an NFL roster.
Running backs have an incredibly short shelf-life, and the differences in quality between the good backs and the average ones are slim. Quarterbacks and edge rushers are the most important positions on the field and are paid as such.
And finally, getting to the main point of this article, cornerback play can be incredibly difficult to evaluate and replicate, meaning from year-to-year, a guy’s performance can shift drastically despite no significant changes in his true talent level.
But, when you’re hot you’re hot, as the kids say, and the Bucs have one of the best corners in the league right now in former fifth-round pick Zyon McCollum.
He’s been an outstanding surprise so far this season, filling in for stalwart Carlton Davis III, who was traded to the Detroit Lions in the offseason for a third rounder.
The former Sam Houston Bearkat has helped change a secondary group that might’ve been thought of as a bit of a question mark at the start of the season into a reliable part of this Bucs squad going into their Thursday night matchup with the Atlanta Falcons.
McCollum has done his thing through the first quarter of the season, ranking third in coverage EPA amongst defenders overall, and 1st when stacked up against other corners, according to Joshua Queipo.
He also has six passes defended, fourth in the NFL, and got himself his first career interception in the Bucs’ victory in Detroit a couple weeks ago.
While the Bucs’ defense has had moments of leakiness, it's (for the most part) done a surprisingly solid job against the pass this season, despite the turnover in the secondary.
In addition to the Davis trade, star safety Antoine Winfield, Jr. has missed two games, yet the Bucs are 12th in the NFL in EPA/pass, a far improvement over their usual rankings in that category.
Sure, they’ve done so against a banged up Eagles offense and the Broncos, but the Commanders are putting up historic numbers with rookie QB Jayden Daniels, with the second most points per drive in NFL history over the first four weeks of a season.
The Lions are also Super Bowl contenders mostly due to their top-10 passing offense in yards with a dynamic group of elite pass catchers from game manager extraordinaire Jared Goff.
And you know who is a huge part of this success against at least competent (if not pretty good) competition? Their starting outside corner, McCollum.
Fellow defensive back Jamel Dean has had some nice outings, even submitting an 86.1-grade performance this past Sunday, according to Pro Football Focus. And, second-year pass rusher YaYa Diaby might be getting his own article soon with his dominant production.
But for now, let’s all enjoy the fact that McCollum is playing some great football. Because with the volatility of cornerback performance, who knows how long it’ll last?
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