The Bucs may have dug a hole where they didn’t need to do any digging.
The trade of corner Carlton Davis to Detroit still stuns Joe. A team that was “this close” to the NFC title game unloads its best corner? Don’t see that happen too often. Almost makes Joe wonder if something happened behind the scenes? It’s just odd.
This seems to be the line of thinking from long-time NFL Network talking head and CBS NFL analyst Charles Davis. Typing for NFL.com, Davis seems to think the Bucs now have a hole in the secondary and that Bucs coach Todd Bowles won’t waste any time filling it.
Davis believes the Bucs will select Alabama corner Kool-Aid McKinstry at No. 26.
Trading Carlton Davis created a need at cornerback. Head coach Todd Bowles will always take care of his defense, and it plays hard for him.
You could say that Davis doesn’t buy that Zyon McCollum is automatically going to start in place of Davis.
Joe is intrigued with this potential draft pick for a couple of reasons and it all boils down to one thing: intelligence. To play corner for Nick Saban, you have to know what the hell you are doing. You have to be smart. You have to be versatile.
If there is a better secondary coach in football than Saban, please point him out to Joe.
Joe guesses you could argue Bowles is right up there with Saban. To play in Bowles’ defense in the secondary, you have to be smart. So Joe is really intrigued by a Saban corner playing for Bowles. Seems like a perfect fit.
Former Eagles and Crows scout Daniel Jeremiah believes McKinstry has quality traits.
McKinstry is a smooth, athletic cornerback with average play speed. In press coverage, he carries his hands low and prefers to play under control rather than attack. He doesn’t have any tightness when opening up. There are some concerns with his deep speed when he’s challenged vertically. From off coverage, everything he does is smooth, but he lacks twitch and urgency. He does find and play the ball well, both in front of him and down the field. He isn’t ultra aggressive when it comes to getting involved in the run game, but he’s a reliable tackler in space. Overall, Kool-Aid has a lot of redeeming qualities, but his top speed is a question mark. If he posts a good time in the 40-yard dash, it could really boost his stock.
Joe would be a bit surprised if the Bucs don’t draft a corner as a result of the Davis trade. Joe isn’t sure if that will come at No. 26.