It’s no secret that the Bucs are aiming to change personnel changes in defense this season. Cornerbacks are a great opportunity for teams to improve. The season-ending injury sustained by free agent Bryce Hall in his first game last year, paired with Jamel Dean’s ongoing struggle to stay healthy, heading the team to Josh Hayes and Tyrek Funderburk. Last year we started in the outside corner. The results were less than stars.
I don’t know if Bucs is watching it yet Release or trade Dean. They don’t necessarily need a cap room to save by letting him go, and the cash paid in 2025 is a reasonable $13 million. When he’s on the field, he’s a good corner and just move on and fill in another hole.
Reassure your team will move across the room and at a free agency, whether they move or not. This free agency class from Corner is set to be solid at the top, but it’s very shallow. Especially when Todd Bowles, the head coach of players who don’t meet physical thresholds, begins to weed out the players they’re looking for at his boundary line.
Please enter your Nate Hobbs.
Nate Hobbs might suit Bucks
Raiders CB Nate Hobbs – Photo: USA Today
Let’s start with the basics. Bowles is looking for 6 feet or less with arms of over 30.5 inches. Of the 14 corners that have played quite a few snaps with the Bowles since 2019, only Deederany, Hayes and Funderburk are shorter than six feet. And only three people had sub-30.5 inch arms, Derek Pitts, Funderburk and Rothcockrell. All of these players were first brought to play a role in nickel or safety and pushed to an external role due to injury.
Hobbs checks both boxes. Well, a bit. His official height is 71.375 inches, so he makes up for it with his 31.5 inches arm, although only a little under the height threshold. What brings him positional versatility to the table. Hobbs has played mostly in slots over the past two seasons, but has over 700 career snaps on the outside. It was his main position in 2022 before Las Vegas pushed him in the following year. Since then, the Raiders have used him similarly to how Bowles once used Sean Murphy Bunting.
This CB FA class is past its high-profile name and lacks many great fits in the Bucs. 1It’s Nate Hobbs who intrigues me. Not perfect, but talented, he helps to improve the flooring of the room and give it positional versatility. You can move the tykeys with Hobbs in the slot. pic.twitter.com/omharq8xkp
– Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) February 20, 2025
Hobbs doesn’t shy away from doing small things that help keep players on the field for all three downs. He is a happy participant in the run game, firing to blow up the screen behind the line of scrimmage, and has a pressure rate of 25.3% with three sacks.
In coverage, Hobbs offers solid coverage skills. He can carry the seams and works well with a deep third where he can pinch the route with the stem. He especially approaches the line of scrimmage, explodes into the ball, and plays the apartment very well. He also skillfully sorts the bunch and stack releases, rarely being forced out of position by washing.
Bucs DB Tykee Smith – Photo: USA Today
He’s not perfect and wants a lot because he’s consistently a few steps behind in his trail skills, especially Crosso. He also allows the larger receivers and tight ends to be bullied at the top of the route as Hobbs works backwards. And at the boundary line he showed that he prefers early hip flips that can be exploited with double movements like post corners and corner posts.
Ultimately, Hobbs represents an improvement over some of the players Bucs currently on the roster. He’s not an ideal fit as the Bucks are still the best in slots where they have a solid depth chart that includes Tykey Smith and Christian Ijien. But the best roster construction front office looks past the obvious to see what can be done. An addition like Hobbs could help Bucs improve safely by kicking Smith to the top. And if Dean or Zeon McCollum has to miss time, they will become someone who feels more comfortable outside Tampa Bay. Overall, it adds a good footballer to the roster that needs just that.
For him Career, Hobbs played 51 games, starting 38 of which. He has 281 tackles, 14 losses, 3.0 bags, 3 intercepts, 3 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery.
