Zyon McCollum Is Motivated To Be A Great Bucs’ Starting CB

“Being able to compete against the best in practice is what makes everybody great on the field during the game,” McCollum said. “Having a guy like Mike Evans, I mean I’m taking advantage of every chance I get against him. Whether it’s one-on-ones or seven-on-sevens, I have to get those reps.

“I look forward to the matchup with not only him, but Chris [Godwin], and a lot of the other guys that we have. Mike going into his [11th] year, it’s unbelievable. I cherish every moment I have been able to go against a guy like that.”

Mike Evans has been that guy for a long time, and it took a lot for the Bucs to keep the best offensive player in team history in the fold. Evans is the kind of guy who reinforces that young defensive backs have to come prepared and learn from the lessons he gives on the field as he is not one to give out pointers.

“Physical at the point of attack,” McCollum said of Evans. “You can’t wait for anybody or anything in this league, you have to go and get everything that’s out there. Nobody is going to let anything go into your lap and so Mike, seeing the young guy, he’s not waiting to give them tips or to tell them how to do something, he is just going to beat them and then you’ll learn from the work. With him, you’ll line up against him, you don’t think, ‘Oh, it’s Mike Evans’, or ‘Oh, I’m in the NFL.’ You think, ‘What am I going to do to win the rep?'”

Zyon McCollum Emerged From The Fire Last Season As A Better Player

After the Bucs traded away longtime starting cornerback Carlton Davis III, it has left an open spot opposite Jamel Dean on the outside. As it stands before the 2024 NFL Draft, and based on the moves the team has made, it appears that Zyon McCollum has the inside track of filling it. While the team has added Bryce Hall, Tavierre Thomas, and may still look to add another corner to the room, McCollum has earned the chance at the starting gig based on how he grew throughout last season.

After a rookie year filled with more downs than ups as he was learning and taking steps to play up to speed, he spent last year showing that he gained more of head coach Todd Bowles’ trust as a versatile defender.

He received 651 snaps as an outside corner in 2023, with an additional 65 snaps in the slot and eight at free safety. This allowed him to not only get on the field but also to learn what is expected across the defensive backfield when it comes to assignments and knowing where he needs to be.

“Oh, 100%,” McCollum said Monday on if the variety of experience has helped him. “Since playing safety and playing nickel I know exactly where I want my safety and my nickel to be because I can put myself in their shoes. With that, when we go out and we’re practicing drills, you know, we can communicate at just such a high level because I can speak their language and they can speak my language. Being able to know exactly where somebody’s going to be when Bowles calls a call allows me to say, ‘I don’t have to cover that guy, I just have to worry about this.’ Just worrying about doing your job, that’s something that all goes hand-in-hand.”

There is room for McCollum — and every other recent draft pick — to continue to improve. When it comes to the secondary, it means creating more takeaways and being a threat to make a big play when the ball is in their vicinity. While he has yet to record an interception in his career, he is motivated after being thrown into the mix to be great.

“Everything I use as motivation, no matter what it is,” McCollum added. “Positive and negative, and this is really no different. Every single year I go into the offseason working as hard as I can. Having been thrown in the fire as much as I was last year and kind of knowing what to expect and what I have to do to play at a super great form, it’s just exciting for me. Each and every day I carry a chip on my shoulder [for] what I got to go get.”

Todd Bowles’ Message To The Team Rang Loud And Clear To Zyon McCollum

The offseason serves as a time for each player to reflect and build on what went right and wrong during the previous year. As the Bucs made their way into AdventHealth Training Center on Monday for voluntary workouts, head coach Todd Bowles had a message for the team that Zyon McCollum relayed in his press conference.

“Consistency and showing up every day and doing something,” McCollum said of the theme of Bowles’ message. “Not being good, but being great. What he means by that is if we’re doing everything that we’re going to need to do in training camp right now, by the time we get to training camp, we’re going to be that much further ahead.

“It’s not just watching film just to watch film, it’s watching film and treating it like you’re still in a season. It wasn’t that long ago that we were in this building in a season fighting for a playoff spot, fighting to get to the Super Bowl. We can’t lose that fire, that intensity. We can stack these years instead of just starting over every year.”

As the time comes to step on the gas and accelerate into next season, Zyon McCollum is ready to make the shift into becoming a starting NFL cornerback. Not just any starting cornerback, but one who can be a playmaker and dictate the outcome of games.