One of the Bucs’ most-watched camp battles this preseason has been for the No. 2 cornerback job. The question of who would man the second starting cornerback position opposite Carlton Davis remained unanswered until just a couple of days ago.

Sean-Murphy Bunting has been the starter there for the better part of three years, with Jamel Dean coming in for nickel packages. This was originally a function of draft status. Murphy-Bunting was selected in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft (No. 39 overall). Dean was taken 55 picks later toward the end of the third round. Both corners had good physical profiles coming out of college, as evidenced by their RAS scores.

Dean has seen a lot of time outside in the last few years, as Murphy-Bunting has seen a significant number of snaps in the slot. But with Antoine Winfield Jr. assuming that nickel corner role during training camp, Murphy-Bunting kicked back outside. And despite being listed behind Murphy-Bunting on the depth chart throughout camp, Dean will be the No. 2 behind Davis when the Bucs open their 2022 season Sunday in Dallas.

CB2 Decision Shows How Each Player Has/Hasn’t Grown From Draft Profiles

Given that these two players were drafted so closely together in 2019 and both are entering a contract year, I thought it might be wise to look at the book on each when they came out of college. Looking at Lance Zierlein’s NFL.com write-ups for both guys, you get a good sense of their strengths and weaknesses.

Sean Murphy-Bunting

“Long, lanky press corner who plays with good control, an ability to stay connected to routes and above-average ball skills. Bunting is a bail or trail corner who is more adept at shadowing the release than road-blocking it with physicality due to a leaner frame. He’s confident in coverage and doesn’t play with panic, but has to prove his top-end speed. He’s proven his worth on 50-50 balls, but may fall below NFL standards with closing twitch and instincts. He’s a solid Day 3 prospect with CB4 potential.”

Jamel Dean

“Dean’s combination of height, weight and speed will get the conversation started off in the right direction for NFL evaluators, but there is no way around the fact that multiple knee surgeries will be a cause for concern in those same circles. His length and ability to disrupt catch space is a big plus in his favor and he has the athletic ability to play in a variety of coverages. However, he needs more consistent competitiveness and better technique for the next level.”

It seems obvious the Bucs chose physically impressive cornerbacks who were far from perfect coming out of college. Dean had some medical red flags and needed to work on some refinement of his trade. Murphy-Bunting had some questions about his long speed, as well as his reaction-time.

But we are now three and a half years on from that draft. You would hope each player has made significant strides to minimize those weaknesses as they enter contract years. Does that check out? Let’s take a look.

Dean’s Progress

Let’s start with the camp winner. Through his first three years in the league, Dean has shown himself to be both extremely consistent as well as wildly unpredictable. I know that statement is contradictory, so allow me to explain. When you look at Dean’s career in the aggregate, you can see a consistent level of play. Case in point: Dean’s Pro Football Focus grades.

2019 – 76.4

2020 – 76.4

2021 – 71.8.

His coverage grades (a cornerback’s primary job) are even more consistent.

2019 – 78.9

2020 – 78.6

2021 – 74.7.

When comparing to Murphy-Bunting’s grades, it would seem this should be an open-and-shut case. And for many people, this seems to be the case they make when citing there shouldn’t even be a competition.

But while Dean’s macro level of play is consistent, it is his micro level that can be frustrating. You just never know when he is going to completely miss an assignment or a play. Here are some examples:

2021 Week 10 vs. WAS

This is a third-down play. That’s important. Washington elects to try and combat a Cover 3 look by throwing short to the left flat. The hope is that the receiver can make a play after the catch to pick up the first down. Dean comes down hard and breaks down from his pursuit well. It should have been over in that moment. He has to make that tackle. But he doesn’t. The play goes for a first down and eventually, Washington scores a touchdown to end the drive. The Bucs end up losing the game. This was a huge drive in the grand scheme of that game.

2021 Week 5 vs. Miami

Here, you see Dean at the bottom of your screen trail the outside receiver into his post to the middle of the field. Everyone else on the Bucs’ defense drops into what looks like a quarters coverage. Quarters, or Cover 4, is where the two safeties and the two outside corners all drop into deep zones to protect against a middle-to-deep pass. Dean’s responsibility would be to stay on his outside part of the field and drop deep. This would have had Miles Gaskin run right into his zone on the wheel route. But by vacating his zone and sticking with the receiver, Dean leaves a huge hole in the coverage that Miami exploited for a touchdown.

I imagine nothing frustrates a coach more than these types of errors. Blown coverages and unforced missed tackles are a one-way ticket to the bench. You can see why, despite the positives to his game, Dean was not a lock to be Tampa Bay’s CB2 this year.

How Dean Overcomes These Lapses

Despite these unforced errors, there is so much to like about Dean’s game. PFF has him as the highest-rated cornerback in the NFL in press-man coverage since 2020.  And it’s easy to see why. He uses his big frame and strong hands to jam easily at the line. Then, once the receiver gets into his route, he finds it hard to shake the Bucs’ DB due to his easy speed and long arms. Dean can match and mirror through the stem of the route and then use those long arms to disrupt the pass at the catch point. Here are a few clips of him doing some of those things.

Dean is at the top of the screen running press-man against a short crossing route. It looks like his receiver may have been Matt Ryan’s first look in his progression. He doesn’t throw at Dean because there is no window. Dean jams at the top of the short stem and immediately trails in phase across the field. As a contrast, you can see on the opposite side of the field, Bucs cornerback Dee Delaney handled a similar route far less successfully, ending in a big gain.

And Dean’s ability to stay in phase allows those around him to take a more aggressive, ball-hawk approach to throws in the air. Here is one from the Giants game last year.

Because Dean had such tight coverage here, Antoine Winfield Jr. was able to try and make a play on the ball, nearly getting an interception in the process.

Dean In Zone

One of the refinements to his game Dean has had to develop is a better understanding of zone coverage. He has publicly said it wasn’t something he was asked to do in college. And so, he has had to learn an aspect of his position that the Bucs’ scheme relies heavily on, and he has done so basically on the fly at the highest level. The progress is evident. Here is an example of him defending a flat zone from last week against Indianapolis.

This is a Cover 2 look the Bucs rotate into. It’s a rare variation where the left cornerback and single-high safety rotate to a two-high zone. Meanwhile, the slot corner at the top of the screen moves outside to the flat zone. Dean’s responsibility as the right corner is to cover the right flat.  You can see him drop more horizontally than vertically as he reads Ryan’s eyes. As soon as Ryan pulls the trigger on the throw to the running back in the flat, Dean breaks on the ball and is able to disrupt the catch. This is one example, but there are a lot more of him becoming much more comfortable in zone coverage.

Sean Murphy-Bunting’s Struggles

Going back to Lance Zeirlein’s write-up on Murphy-Bunting, I want to key in on the part that I bolded.

“…but may fall below NFL standards with closing twitch and instincts.” 

This is the area that I think really separates Dean from SMB. And it’s an area that I don’t think SMB has improved upon enough to make him the starter. Consider that last Dean clip, where he breaks on the flat route. It’s a zone read. Zone is supposed to be where Murphy-Bunting is stronger. I just don’t see it.

Here, Murphy-Bunting is lined up in the slot on the near side of the field. He’s dropping into a short hook zone. Matt Ryan makes a good read to get the ball to Russell Gage on the quick hitch. I’m not expecting Murphy-Bunting to break up the pass. But look at the reaction time. He’s not arriving on time with the ball. His play on this rep is something I would expect out of a linebacker, not a guy vying for a starting cornerback role. The delayed reaction and twitch to bite down on the hitch allows Gage to flip around and pick up extra yards after the catch.

Here, you can see SMB dropping into a similar zone as the clip prior. He has to allow his slot receiver to release up the seam, as he has underneath responsibility. With no one in front of him at this point, Murphy-Bunting has to read the quarterback. The play goes to the deep dig route being run just behind him. Ryan is looking right at Murphy-Bunting’s immediate area when he fires off the pass. SMB just reacts slowly and allows the catch. It’s this in-play reaction time that, to me, puts him on a level below Dean.

Final Thoughts

Dean has always had the greater physical profile to be the more dominant outside cornerback. His long speed is better, and that allows him to take greater chances. Dean was the more raw prospect coming out of college and has shown that he has taken positive strides to improve that part of his game. Meanwhile, Murphy-Bunting hasn’t been able to speed up his processor to allow him to react better to the quick timing-based passing attacks that most opposing offenses throw at the Bucs’ defense. This leads to more catches, yards after catch, first downs and just general scoring than you would expect from Dean.

Now, combine all of that with the fact that, despite the clip I showed earlier of Dean completely whiffing on a tackle in the Washington game, he has a much lower career missed tackle rate than SMB (6.5% to 12.0%).

Overall, Dean was the right call by this Bucs coaching staff. And while you are most likely going to still see a big play or two given up by Dean from time to time, he is the better cornerback and the right guy to be starting opposite Carlton Davis come Sept. 11 in Dallas.