The countdown to the Bucs’ 2026 season is on. Right now, we’re:

51 days away from Bucs regular season kickoff
21 days away from Bucs preseason kickoff
5 days away from Bucs training camp

In the lead-up to training camp, Pewter Report’s Bailey Adams will be diving into storylines for 26 key figures who will be crucial to the Bucs’ success in 2026.

Today, the series continues with cornerback Jacob Parrish.

26 For ‘26: Jacob Parrish Bucs Storylines In 2026

Will Jacob Parrish Play Inside Or Outside… Or Both?

Parrish’s versatility has him in an interesting spot heading into 2026. After transitioning to the Bucs’ nickel cornerback role as a rookie in 2025 and ultimately thriving there, he’s now very much in the mix to challenge for a starting spot at outside cornerback. Zyon McCollum is one of Tampa Bay’s starters on the outside. Will Parrish be the other? Let’s start there.

How will the 2025 third-round pick fare in that battle for the CB2 role, which is against 2025 second-rounder Benjamin Morrison? Despite playing only 127 snaps on the outside last season, Parrish may be the favorite to win that starting job. He may even be the favorite by a considerable margin, at least right now. Part of that is due to questions about Morrison’s health and durability, including the fact that he missed more time at the end of OTAs and mini-camp. But the other part of it is that Parrish is just a damn good football player.

Bucs CB Jacob Parrish – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

At 5-foot-10, Parrish lacks the length of a typical Todd Bowles cornerback, but he has the athleticism, swivel, quick feet, speed and physicality necessary to play wherever Bowles needs him to play, even if that’s one of the outside cornerback spots. The lack of ideal length might show up at the catch point against longer receivers, but as Pewter Report’s Josh Queipo wrote earlier this month, he handled the press snaps he was tasked with against bigger pass catchers exceptionally well toward the end of last season when he was forced into an outside role due to injuries.

So, what makes the most sense for Tampa Bay this season? Will Parrish move to the outside, a position he didn’t play as much as a rookie but did primarily play during his collegiate career at Kansas State? Or will he stay at nickel and only kick outside when certain situations call for it? Some of that depends on how well Morrison comes along, but there feels like a real possibility that Parrish ends up winning that starting spot and plays opposite McCollum, with Morrison ultimately slotting in at CB3.

In that case, does Parrish stay outside and that’s that? Or will he play outside in the Bucs’ base package and then move into the slot when they’re in nickel? Throughout the summer, Parrish flipped back and forth during practice, which is something Sean Murphy-Bunting did early on in Bowles’ tenure as the team’s defensive play-caller. That could be a role that suits Parrish very well. Then again, the answer to the original question may be a complicated one. Bowles might just use Parrish wherever he sees fit in a given situation, without a clearly defined role. That versatility is valuable in this defense, as Bowles loves having those chess pieces to work with.

The Bucs Are Depending Heavily On Jacob Parrish In 2026

No matter what Parrish’s role ends up looking like in 2026, it’s evident that the Bucs will be relying heavily on the second-year cornerback — in a lot of ways. The 22-year-old is a guy who seems to be wired differently, meaning he’ll be capable of absorbing whatever is thrown at him and living up to whatever is expected of him. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot being placed on his shoulders.

Parrish will have a chance to compete for a starting job as an outside cornerback, kicking out from the nickel corner role he played so well as a rookie. That could present its own challenges. While he predominantly lined up outside during his college career at Kansas State — 1,070 snaps outside as opposed to just 159 on the inside — he only played 127 snaps outside as a rookie last year compared to the 496 he played at nickel. There could be a reacclimation period there.

Bucs CB Jacob Parrish – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

At the same time, Todd Bowles and the Bucs’ defensive staff will surely be counting on Parrish to remain in-tune with what’s expected of the nickel and stay sharp at that position should he be needed there — whether full time, in certain packages or in the event of a reshuffle in the secondary due to injuries. So that’ll ultimately have him juggling those two positions.

It’s more than just that, too. The Bucs are also heavily depending on Parrish to stay healthy. If he wins the starting outside cornerback role opposite Zyon McCollum, the only “established” depth behind them is Benjamin Morrison, whose own health has proven difficult to depend on. With very, very little in terms of true depth on the outside, Tampa Bay is essentially saying “Well, Jacob, you better be in there all 17 weeks.” It’s a physical league, and Tampa is a difficult climate to play in. So, that’s a lot to put on him.

Not to mention, the Bucs need him healthy even if he doesn’t win that starting outside job. Because then he becomes the only depth behind McCollum and Morrison on the outside. There are guys who can step in at nickel, but he’s relatively irreplaceable given his inside-outside versatility. The Bucs could still add another veteran corner during training camp or after final roster cutdowns elsewhere. They’d really benefit from that, and Parrish would, too. It would at least relieve some of this pressure they’ve placed on the 22-year-old.

Can Jacob Parrish Sustain Or Even Build On His 2025 Ball Production?

Beyond playing all-around good football and earning a 68.5 overall grade from PFF with a particularly strong 78.5 run defense grade and 65.7 mark in coverage, Parrish put up some solid production as a rookie in 2025. He had 76 tackles (50 solo), seven tackles for loss and two sacks from his nickel position over 17 games (five starts). And about that ball production? He finished the season with two interceptions and a fumble recovery. That’s an encouraging rookie season from the Bucs’ 2025 third-round pick.

The question now becomes this: Can Parrish at least maintain that kind of ball production or even build on it in 2026? If you ask him, he’ll tell you he can and should build on it and put up even better numbers. Why? Because he believes he left some plays out there in 2025, meaning he could’ve and should’ve had even more production to his name. If he can top the two interceptions and one fumble recovery he had as a rookie, it would be a huge boost for the Bucs defense. (Add that to the list of ways this team may be counting on Parrish in 2026). 

After all, this is a defense that has struggled to create takeaways in recent years. It’s also a defense that has been full of cornerbacks who can’t seem to hold onto interceptions even when they’re right there for the taking. Now, the additions to the front seven could help change the unit’s takeaway problem, but outside of a sudden barrage of interceptions from Zyon McCollum, the responsibility would seem to fall on Parrish and potentially Benjamin Morrison, along with rookie nickel cornerback Keionte Scott.

Bucs CB Jacob Parrish – Photo by: USA Today

While a possible move to the outside is likely to hurt his tackle, tackle for loss and sack numbers, Parrish may see more opportunities to make plays on the football in 2026. That combined with his stated goal of getting the job done when those aforementioned plays are there to be made could mean an increase in takeaways for the second-year man out of Kansas State.

Speaking of K-State, Parrish’s ball production in college wasn’t overly breathtaking overall, but he did have a four-interception season for the Wildcats as a sophomore in 2023. Tampa Bay would certainly take a four-pick season in 2026, as it hasn’t had one of those from a defender since Carlton Davis III came away with four interceptions in that 2020 Super Bowl LV season. But even if Parrish betters his 2025 total by one and finishes with a three-pick season, that would be a nice development for Todd Bowles’ defense.

Catch Up On Previous Installments Of Bailey Adams’ 26 For ’26 Series

OFFENSE:

Baker Mayfield
Bucky Irving
Kenny Gainwell
Chris Godwin Jr.
Emeka Egbuka
Jalen McMillan
Cade Otton
Tristan Wirfs
Ben Bredeson
Graham Barton
Cody Mauch
Luke Goedeke

DEFENSE:

Yaya Diaby
Rueben Bain Jr.
A’Shawn Robinson
Calijah Kancey
Vita Vea
Alex Anzalone
Josiah Trotter
Zyon McCollum
Benjamin Morrison