The Bucs finally addressed the defense – waiting forever to do so in the *checks notes* second round. Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison was a playmaker in college, with nine interceptions in his first two years, before hip surgery shortened his 2024 season.

Here’s a breakdown of Morrison’s game.

Measurables

Morrison breaks the Bucs guardrails for arm length. pic.twitter.com/WUnDhjbbdC

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) April 26, 2025

While Benjamin Morrison meets the Bucs’ preference for height, clearing the six-foot threshold by 0.25 inches. But in a departure from the team’s typical length guardrail his arm length is less than 30.5 inches.

But he has a broader chest, and his overall wingspan beats out Zyon McCollum and clears the 52nd percentile for the position. He didn’t test in pre-draft activities as he was still recovering from his hip surgery in the fall.

Advanced Stats

Benjamin Morrison was targeted 27 times in 2024 and just 129 times in his three-year career at Notre Dame. Over 866 coverage snaps, he was targeted once every 6.7 snaps. Average at the FBS level is about 6.9, so Morrison was tested in college. But when he was targeted, Morrison did not allow receptions. He allowed a catch rate south of 50% in every season, totaling 45.7% for his entire college tenure. That’s a really strong number.

Bucs CB Benjamin Morrison – Photo by: USA Today

In 2022 he allowed a quarterback rating when targeted of 29.2. In 2023 that moved up to 60.8 and ended with 58.4 in his injury-shortened 2024 season. His 25.5% forced incompletion rate in 2023 was 13th in college football for cornerbackss with at least 300 coverage snaps. He added 12 pass breakups and nine interceptions in 31 career games. His ball production efficiency (PBU’s + INT)/coverage snap was 1/41 and 1/6 per target.

When Benjamin Morrison Wins

Perhaps no other corner in this class has as much press man experience as the Notre Dame product does. Interestingly, Benjamin Morrison’s press reps are more of a mirror technique without a punch. He uses his balanced and quick feet to match the receiver’s release and then push vertically in phase.

This technique works best when he can gain inside leverage and push the release to the sideline, reducing space for the receiver to work with. It keeps him in excellent position to make a play on the ball. Add in his excellent timing to get his head around and there’s no wonder why he has a reputation as a ballhawk.

Some coverage clips of Morrison vs Ohio St. in 2023. Ignore the graphic circles. He’s #20 lined up at LCB (top of screen). pic.twitter.com/Emw9b955so

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) April 26, 2025

Morrison is a smart player with good eye discipline. He’s adept at keeping a gauge of his coverage assignment while balancing that with keeping an eye on the quarterback. That combination leads to plays like the first and third clips in the below sequence.

3 turnovers from Morrison. All a little different

#1 Fantastic awareness 2 fall off his assign. 2 make the play.

#2 Forces the pick with the CB blitz

#3 Deep 1/3 Stays in phase with 👀 in backfield even as the WR gets to 20MPH. Puts himself in better pos 2 make the play. pic.twitter.com/uJywiEaNzd

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) April 26, 2025

In Cover 3 he can become more aggressive, leaning on his eye discipline and high mental processing to put himself in position to get into passing lanes and challenge at the catchpoint. It also lessens the reliance on his athleticism, which is more good-than-great.

When Benjamin Morrison Struggles

While his footwork is balanced and his technique is sound most of the time, there are moments where Benjamin Morrison can commit a false step and give up leverage inside. When that happens, receivers can gain easy separation on quick in-breakers for easy buckets. NFL receivers with more varied release packages and quicker feet could give him trouble and leave him grabbing for connection.

It was more prevalent in his 2023 tape, but you can still see it last year. When Morrison finds himself out of position, he has a tendency to panic. When that happens, he tries to center himself by getting hands on his receiver to better anticipate stems and shifts. And when that happens it brings on additional problems of him breaking late on stems.

Lots to like about Benjamin Morrison. Assuming the medicals are okay (and I think we can at this point). But this would be the crux of my concerns with him. 1st 2 pass plays vs Purdue. Think Rep 1 led to rep 2. pic.twitter.com/FpsCTBHEHx

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) April 27, 2025

The Bucs’ Vision For Benjamin Morrison

Benjamin Morrison is comfortable playing Cover 3, which is the Bucs’ primary coverage package. And with his willingness and experience in press man coevrage, it could bring a new element to Todd Bowles’ defense. But it will be imperative for the team to work with him on adding a strong jam/punch to his press technique to help protect his inside and not give up those quick in-breakers as much.

If they can accomplish that goal and help clean up his tackling a bit, there is no reason Morrison can’t be a starter for Tampa Bay. And depending on the health and availability of Jamel Dean, that can happen rather quickly.