Buccaneers draft a Kansas State star and double-dip on a key defensive position

Josh Hill

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers double-dipped on secondary help, drafting Kansas State CB Jacob Parrish in Round 3. / Peter G. Aiken/GettyImages

It's always impossible to try and decipher what Tampa Bay Buccaneers GM Jason Licht will do when the NFL Draft rolls around, and he delivered on that once again this year. After the Bucs were expected to take a defensive player at No. 19 overall, the pick ended up being Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, which stunned almost everyone.

That set the table for the Bucs to turn their attention over to the defense on Day 2, which is exactly what they did. After taking Egbuka in the first round, Tampa Bay used back-to-back picks on cornerbacks to help replenish the secondary.

Notre Dame's Benjamin Morrison was the team's second round pick, with Tampa Bay using its third rounder on Kansas State slot demon Jacob Parrish.

He'll be a slot corner for Todd Bowles and has lightning-fast speed to fly around the secondary with. Something he also did at Kansas State was blitz, which makes him a natural fit for the defense that he's going to.

Really like what I've seen from Kansas State CB Jacob Parrish. Feisty, twitchy player who is extremely comfortable in the press. Watch him smother this route (top) into the sideline -- all over his film.

Probably an NFL nickel but I want him on my team. Max Melton vibes. pic.twitter.com/Pmrq6ueVLT
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) April 10, 2025

Simply put, Parrish rules. There are a few different spots in the secondary he could end up playing but the Bucs will find somewhere to put him. Adding him in the same draft as Morrison harkens back to when Tampa Bay took guys like Carlton Davis III and Jamel Dean and used them as homegrown talent to build a Super Bowl defense around.

Perhaps we're witnessing the ressuection of the Grave Diggers -- Grave Diggers 2.0, if you will.

At the very least, Tampa Bay addressed a key defensive need in a big way on Friday night. Coming into the draft the Bucs had Zyon McCollum as the only reliable cornerback on the roster, with Jamel Dean's talents often blunted by injuries.

Drafting Morrison and Parrish is an investment in the defense, and one the team needed to make.

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Josh Hill

Josh Hill is a Content Director for the FanSided Network and has been the site expert at The Pewter Plank since 2023. Previously, he was Editorial Director of FanSided.com from 2018 until 2022 and has been a content creator covering sports media since 2010. His work has been featured on Sports Illustrated, FOX Sports, and Yahoo! Sports. His work covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has been featured on The Pewter Plank since 2010, and he has written over 5,000 stories on the Bucs. He's been a fan ever since he first watched the Tony Dungy-led teams of the 90s, where John Lynch, Ronde Barber, and Warrick Dunn won his heart over -- and the 1999 NFC Championship game was his introduction to sports pain.