FAB 4. Murphy-Bunting Emerging As Bucs’ Best CB

Bucs rookie cornerback Jamel Dean had a trial-by-fire day in last week’s 40-34 loss at Seattle in which he surrendered nearly 200 passing yards and all three touchdowns to wide receivers Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf.

But the one cornerback whose name was hardly mentioned by the broadcast announcers on Sunday was fellow rookie Sean Murphy-Bunting, and that’s a good thing because he was covering his man.

Bucs CB Sean Murphy-Bunting – Photo by: Getty Images

“Sean Murphy-Bunting’s playing really well,” Arians said. “He kind of dipped but he’s way back up.”

Murphy-Bunting, the team’s second-round pick, drew rave reviews in the offseason for his tight coverage and nose for the ball. But once the pads came on and he was under the lights, the Central Michigan product encountered his share of growing pains in the preseason. His own trial-by-fire happened during the season in New Orleans where he got his first NFL interception, but also played too soft in coverage.

“I would honestly say the game slowed down for me the most during the New Orleans game,” Murphy-Bunting said. “That entire week it was more focusing on the little details and things to improve on to make me play faster. Obviously then when Carlton [Davis] went down I had to kind of had to grow up early, quick. That’s kind of when I realized the speed wasn’t too much to handle.

“From that game I learned that I just needed to play more aggressive. That game was a game where we didn’t play as aggressive as we needed to and as a result of it we gave up some touchdowns we shouldn’t have given up and some catches that we shouldn’t have given up on third down. It taught me to play more aggressive and trust your instincts and trust what you see on the film so you can use it on the field.”

Saints WR Michael Thomas and Bucs CB Sean Murphy-Bunting – Photo by: Getty Images

Since then, Murphy-Bunting had a solid game against Carolina in London, followed by two tremendous performances against Tennessee and Seattle. Murphy-Bunting helped hold former Titans first-round pick Corey Davis to just two catches for nine yards in a 27-23 loss.

“I would say that’s my best game that I’ve played so far from a coverage standpoint,” Murphy-Bunting said. “It was just the comfort level, being more comfortable with myself and with the calls and with the defense that we’re running. I actually played against him in college. I played against him my freshman year, and that was the year he got drafted so I kind of knew more about him than I’ve known about other guys I’ve gone against him. I kind of still knew his tendencies and traits and stuff like that.”

Murphy-Bunting has been cross-trained at both outside cornerback and slot cornerback since the day he arrived in Tampa Bay, and that is really paying off dividends for defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, who now has two versatile cornerbacks capable of playing inside and out with the rookie and veteran Vernon Hargreaves III.

“It’s just something that they got me to do when they first got me here, they cross-trained me basically so the entire rookie and training camp I played both, even now I still play both,” Murphy-Bunting said. “They’re just making sure that I know my role and my responsibility whether I’m on the inside or the outside. It’s a match-up thing. There could be some games where Vernon thinks he’ll do better on a certain guy, so he wants to be on the outside on him and put me on the inside, whether it’s a bigger guy or vice versa. Even in the Tennessee game, having him on Adam Humphries and me on Corey Davis, it was kind of a better match-up, better feel, better fit for both of us. That’s just a big thing that we can continue to do throughout the year to put us and our team in the best position possible.”

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians and CB Sean Murphy-Bunting – Photo by: Getty Images

Arians said that Murphy-Bunting’s position flexibility has helped him get on the field quicker than Dean, who is mostly just an outside cornerback.

“Just learning where he was [and] learning his role,” Arians said. “Those young players, when they learn their role – he’s the starting corner now [and] he can play nickel – so his role has really expanded.”

With that expanded role, Murphy-Bunting, who has 11 tackles, three pass breakups and an interception on the year, is playing less and less like a rookie and more and more like a veteran cornerback.

Actually, SMB is playing like the Bucs’ best cornerback right now.