The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost several of their best players in the offseason. Undoubtedly, Mike Evans was the biggest loss, and the star wide receiver has not only made the San Francisco 49ers into a bigger juggernaut with his presence, but he has also gutted the Buccaneers passing attack worse than expected. On the other side of the ball, the retirement of Lavonte David has loomed large after 14 years of steady play and leadership.
But the most underrated departure was Jamel Dean, who signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency after delivering the best season of his career in 2025. Although Dean had his way with the Buccaneers wide receivers and even caught an interception as his Steelers defeated the Bucs back in Week 6, Tampa Bay has no regrets about letting him walk in he offseason.
Because even though Dean has picked up where he left off after a breakout 2025 season and continues to play at an elite level in Pittsburgh, the Buccaneers have surprisingly been quite excellent at the cornerback spot, too.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers CB duo is playing at an All-Pro level
Jamel Dean has registered eight passes defended, an interception, and three forced fumbles in seven starts in a start to the season that Charles Peanut Tillman himself would be proud of. And he hasn't allowed a single touchdown either with a QBR surrendered of just 66.8.
That being said, as great as he has been, the Buccaneers secondary is in the top-10 in yards per attempt allowed and fresh off a shutdown performance against Michael Penix and the Atlanta Falcons. Yes, the elements were in their favor, but, still, picking off a quarterback who had a touchdown to interception ratio of nine to one four times on Sunday is highly impressive. And Penix literally only completed a third of his pass attempts.
The cornerback duo of Jacob Parrish and Zyon McCollum has been insanely impressive, and it is a challenge to find another partnership meshing better. Rookie nickel corner Keionte Scott has been flying all over the field as advertised, and he and Tykee Smith have arguably been even better than Pro Bowl safety Antoine Winfield Jr., who himself looks much improved from the last season.
Parrish leads the NFL with 13 passes defended and McCollum has 9. The both have two interceptions, so their playmaking numbers on defense are both even better than Dean's. McCollum's QB Rating allowed of 66.6 is a touch better than Dean's, and Parrish is allowing a QB Rating of 63.9. These are elite numbers, as not only do the Bucs have two corners making more plays than Dean, their old No. 1, but they are also shutting down receivers better, too.
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