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About the Author: Jon Ledyard

Avatar Of Jon Ledyard
Jon Ledyard is PewterReport.com's newest Bucs beat writer and has experience covering the Pittsburgh Steelers as a beat writer and analyzing the NFL Draft for several draft websites, including The Draft Network. Follow Ledyard on Twitter at @LedyardNFLDraft

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In a shocking move, the Bucs traded back into the fifth round of the 2023 draft with the Jacksonville Jaguars. As a part of the deal, Tampa Bay traded away a 2023 4th-round pick and got a seventh round pick back from the Jaguars. That pick will be No. 235 in this year’s draft. With the 157th pick, Tampa Bay selected high-upside cornerback Zyon McCollum from Sam Houston State.

McCollum was expected to come off the board much earlier than the fifth round. He was the 108th ranked player on the consensus big board. His NFL Scouting Combine performance was one of the best at any position in the event’s history. At 6-2, 199 pounds with 31-inch arms, McCollum ran a 4.33 40-yard dash with a 1.46 10-yard split. He also jumped 39.5 inches in the vertical, and 11 feet in the broad. To cap off his insane performance, McCollum ran an absurd 3.94 short shuttle and a 6.48 3-cone.

The Galveston, Texas native was also productive on the field, notching 13 interceptions in five years as a starter. McCollum broke up 54 passes, but wasn’t as dominant as you’d want an FCS cornerback to be on tape. McCollum is also already almost 23 years old. Still, he has one of the elite athletic and physical profiles in cornerback history. As a two-time team captain with special teams experience, McCollum should step into at least the CB5 spot for the Bucs. That will leave Dee Delaney and Ross Cockrell to battle it out for the final roster spot at cornerback.

The Bucs now own three seventh round picks: No. 235, No. 248, No. 261. Those are their final three picks in the 2022 NFL Draft.

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