It's been a small sample size so far this offseason, but the Tampa Bay Bucacneers rookie class has wasted little time making an impact.
Bucky Irving and Graham Barton have rightfully earned a ton of praise so far, but there's another guy who is starting to make a name for himself. A lot was made about the Bucs taking Jalen McMillan and Chris Braswell on the second day of the NFL Draft, but Tykee Smith has made the most noise so far.
We saw that again on Saturday in Jacksonville, where the former Georgia Bulldog continued to look like he was born to play in Todd Bowles' defense.
Tykee Smith is on his way to earning an important role in the Buccaneers defense
Smith was flying around the defense right out of the gate on Saturday, terrorizing Mac Jones a blitz early in the game.
Ya love seeing this from Tykee Smith. pic.twitter.com/rL1ZhStRnd
— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) August 17, 2024
One way to earn some playing time in a Todd Bowles defense is by being able to effectively blitz, but Smith has done more than just that as he attempts to win a starting role.
He hasn't been perfect, as he was involved in a broken coverage play that led to a Jaguars touchdown in the first half, but he managed to hold his own for most of the night. It's just his second game as a pro, which doesn't excuse any mistakes but highlights just how incredible it is that he's already showing this much talent.
Zyon McCollum will be moving over to take the place of Carlton Davis III as the team's No. 2 cornerback, which means the nickel corner job is up for grabs. Right now, it seems as though Smith has the inside track to take over; in two games he has seven tackles and is looking every bit like the kind of player Bowles likes to invest time in to develop into an impact guy.
Whether he keeps living up to the hype is yet to be seen, but so far it looks like the Bucs might have gotten a steal with Smith.
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