Bucs head coach and defensive play-caller Todd Bowles has been known to be notoriously slow when it comes to making necessary personnel moves, especially on the defensive side of the ball. But even Bowles had seen enough when he benched rookie cornerback Tyrek Funderburk for Josh Hayes at halftime of last week’s 31-26 loss to the Falcons.

Funderburk, an undrafted free agent out of Appalachian State, allowed four catches on five targets for 85 yards and a touchdown to Darnell Mooney before he was benched. Although Bowles has not named a starter opposite Zyon McCollum for Monday night’s game at Kansas City, Hayes has taken increased reps at cornerback in practice and could get his first NFL start against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.

“I think it’s going to be one of those cool moments when I look back on my professional career when I say this is where I kind of started getting my first professional reps,” Hayes said. “I’m excited for it for sure. He’s still playing, but Patrick Mahomes is already one of the greatest – a legend in the making. I think it’s going to be a cool experience.”

Hayes, a sixth-round pick last year, carved a role on the team as the top gunner on punt coverage and has only played 33 snaps on defense this season. All of those plays came against the Falcons in the second half of last week’s game.

It’s an incredibly small sample size, but Hayes is currently the second-highest graded Bucs defender behind McCollum (84.4) and ahead of Tykee Smith (74.4) with a 75.3 grade, according to Pro Football Focus. Hayes’ coverage grade is 72.4, which is just behind McCollum (85.7), inside linebacker SirVocea Dennis (74.3) and cornerback Jamel Dean (73.6).

The Bucs hope Hayes can play well against the Chiefs like he did versus the Falcons when he allowed just one catch for eight yards last week, in addition to making five tackles.

Josh Hayes Has Adjusted Well To Moving Outside Cornerback

Bucs CB Josh Hayes – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs drafted Josh Hayes to compete to play nickelback in 2023. He was drafted out of Kansas State, where he was a nickel cornerback and a safety in his lone season with the Wildcats. But Hayes lost out to Christian Izien, who became a 19-game starter last year at nickelback as an undrafted free agent out of Rutgers.

Behind the scenes, the Bucs cross-trained Hayes to play outside cornerback, which is where he began his career at North Dakota State when he played with guard Cody Mauch.

“I feel like I’m back to my college days [at North Dakota State] a little bit,” Hayes said. “That’s a position I’ve really familiarized myself with. Coming out of college where I was a free safety and nickel and now being able to come back to corner is huge. It feels comfortable.”

Hayes has enough size at 6-foot, 197 pounds to play outside and thrived at the position in practice. So much so that he beat out Keenan Isaac for a roster spot at cornerback in each of the last two seasons.

Bucs starter Zyon McCollum has seen Hayes’ growth as an outside cornerback behind the scenes.

“I think he’s starting to finally understand how to play corner in the NFL,” McCollum said. “He was just going off raw athleticism and raw technique. He plays hard. That’s one thing I love about him. I remember him at North Dakota State and he plays hard. You can’t coach that.

Bucs CB Josh Hayes – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Now he’s taking a step back and understanding the overall scheme of what we’re trying to get done. The more and more that he’s been able to step back and look at it from that bird’s eye view the more it’s helped him. That’s kind of how I was my rookie year – just going out there with that raw athleticism.”

McCollum struggled on defense as a cornerback during his rookie season, but thrived as the team’s top gunner. That’s a role that Hayes took over last year as a rookie when McCollum was called on to start at cornerback for the injured Jamel Dean and Carlton Davis III.

“It taught me how to make plays,” McCollum said. “Once I finally made that first big tackle as a gunner, I knew I was good enough to be in the NFL and that my athleticism was good enough. I made tackles. I made big plays in games.

“So when I moved to corner I adopted that same mindset. It’s not going to look exactly the same, but you kind of know how it feels. It looks different, but it feels the same. The feeling is the hardest thing to catch.”

Josh Hayes Hoping To Go From Gunner To Picking Off Patrick Mahomes

Bucs CB Josh Hayes – Photo by: USA Today

While Zyon McCollum had to learn both cornerback spots last year because he had to sub in at left cornerback for Carlton Davis III and right cornerback Jamel Dean due to injuries, being able to find a home on the left side has helped him hone in on his technique. It’s the same thing for Josh Hayes, who has primarily been practicing at right cornerback this offseason and during the year.

Now that he’ll be filling in for Dean and possibly replacing Tyrek Funderburk at right cornerback against Kansas City, Hayes has a better idea of what to expect.

“It’s everything, especially for a young guy coming in here,” McCollum said. “He had to learn both corner spots and be an emergency nickel last year. But now definitely he’s just on the right side. That’s the focus and it allows you to open your hips one way. He’s always breaking off his outside foot. That type of stuff allows him to clear his mind and just focus on the scheme rather than playing all of these different techniques.”

Hayes said that the continuous amount of reps at right cornerback has helped him with his field vision more than anything.

“I think it helps for sure, not maybe as much as with technique, more in terms of your view as a corner and your perspective of how you are going to see formations and sets and motion,” Hayes said.

While Mahomes is still the most talented quarterback in the game, he has thrown nine interceptions this year, which is tied with Baker Mayfield for the second-most in the league behind Green Bay’s Jordan Love, who has thrown 10. If the Bucs, who are nine-point underdogs against the Chiefs, are going to pull off an upset in Kansas City, they’ll likely have to win the turnover battle to do it.

Hayes would love to help his team by recording his first NFL interception against Mahomes on Monday Night Football.

“I’ll take a pick against anybody, but against him it would be cool,” Hayes said. “But it’s less about maybe getting my first pick against Patrick Mahomes and more about doing my job first. I’m going to do my job first and if I’m going to have the chance to get a pick, I’m going to try to make the most of that opportunity and make a play. Just take it one play at a time.”

“Last week was cool, it was an experience for sure [playing against the Falcons]. It’s about always being ready and being able to take advantage of an opportunity.”