The Buccaneers' initial 53-man roster looks deeper in several areas than the group they finished last season with. The defensive front was rebuilt, the pass rush has more options, and the starting offensive line is finally healthy. But the secondary still looks vulnerable heading into Week 1.
Tampa Bay kept only eight defensive backs on its initial roster, a noticeably smaller group than the nine or 10 it typically carries. Five are listed at cornerback with Zyon McCollum, Jacob Parrish, Benjamin Morrison, Keionte Scott and undrafted rookie Ayden Garnes, while Antoine Winfield Jr., Tykee Smith and Miles Killebrew make up the safety room. McCollum and Parrish give the Bucs two corners who already have starting experience, while Winfield and Smith could
be one of the better safety combinations in the NFC. Scott's versatility also gives Todd Bowles some flexibility because the rookie can work in the slot or at safety.
Behind them, Morrison missed much of training camp with a hamstring injury before returning in the preseason finale, and Scott suffered an ankle sprain in that same game, although Bowles has said it isn't considered significant. Garnes earned his roster spot with an excellent preseason, but he's still an undrafted rookie who has yet to play a regular-season snap. Safety is even thinner. Killebrew is technically the third safety, but his primary value throughout his career has come on special teams. He played just nine defensive snaps over his final two seasons in Pittsburgh. That leaves Tampa Bay without much proven defensive experience or depth behind Winfield and Smith. The Bucs should eventually get Josh Hayes back after placing him on injured reserve with a designation to return, but he'll have to miss at least the first four games.
Until then, an injury or two could force Bowles to move players around and ask some of his younger defensive backs to handle larger roles than initially planned, something that happened last season that contributed to their second half of the season collapse. With the regular season less than two weeks away, adding another experienced corner or safety would make sense. The secondary is probably the part of the roster where a single injury could change the entire defensive alignment and bring back ghosts from last season.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: What is the Buccaneers' biggest weak link after final roster cuts?
