The Buccaneers added another attack dog to their paddock Saturday, as they used their fourth-rounder on Miami defensive back Keionte Scott.<\/p>\n
With the Buccaneers needing more depth in their secondary, they invested in the versatile Scott, who blossomed as the best member of Miami\u2019s secondary in 2025. He\u2019ll immediately offer valuable depth at safety and nickel, and he may even push to start at the latter if Jacob Parrish claims a starting outside corner spot.<\/p>\n
Keionte Scott College Stats<\/p>\n
A no-star recruit who bounced are high schools in the Las Vegas area, Scott has navigated a winding path throughout his football career.<\/p>\n
He originally started at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, and immediately became a JUCO All-American both years he played there. He became a four-star JUCO recruit and top-ranked JUCO cornerback in 2022, fielding offers from a huge swath of Power 5 programs.<\/p>\n
He settled on Auburn and played three seasons for the Tigers, oscillating between outside and inside with erratic consistency but decent production (115 total tackles [6 for loss], 10 passes defensed, 1 interception). After getting a JUCO waiver for a sixth season, he followed his DB coach to Miami and, working with defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman, crafted a role that was more advantageous to Scott\u2019s talents.<\/p>\n
The result was an explosion in impact as a primary nickel defender. Scott tallied 64 tackles (a whopping 13 for loss), 5 sacks, 2 interceptions (both returned for TDs), 5 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles. His efforts earned him second-team All-ACC.<\/p>\n
Scott tested like an elite athlete during the pre-draft process. Sporting a well-defined physique (5-foot-11, 193 pounds), Scott posted a blistering 4.33 40-yard dash (equally impressive 1.53 10-yard split), which might make him the fastest Buccaneer on the roster. That speed shows up everywhere, from propelling himself when triggering downhill and blitzing to pursuit in the run and pass game.<\/p>\n
He jumped excellent numbers as well, hitting marks of 34\u201d in the vertical and 10-foot-3 in the broad jump. Overall, his Relative Athletic Score of 9.70 placed him in the top 100 cornerbacks for RAS since 1987.<\/p>\n
What Type of Player Is Keionte Scott?<\/p>\n
He took a while to find his fit, but Scott\u2019s 2025 season provided the window into his NFL future \u2014 and Jason Licht gazed through it to see a perfect fit in Todd Bowles\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n
Scott is a savvy hellraiser who plays with infectious energy as a run enforcer and blitzer. He has the uncanny ability to both slip blocks or take on receivers and running backs head on to impact plays behind the line of scrimmage. He\u2019s extremely talented at rushing the passer, as evidenced by his whopping FIVE sacks as a cornerback, which Bowles will be positively giddy about.<\/p>\n
The quick twitch, hot motor, and change of direction ability make him a reliable screen defender and run pursuer, as he showcased a knack for snuffing out the ground game before it could even get started. His intelligence and decisiveness shine as rare gifts, as he seldom guesses about what\u2019s happening or where a play is going to go.<\/p>\n
All these qualities also contribute to a strong special teams gunner profile, so that\u2019s valuable as well given Tampa\u2019s struggles in that area.<\/p>\n
That all said, Scott is a 25-year-old rookie with one season of truly exceptional production, and that came in a pretty specialized role. Scott has smooth foot but tight hips, which creates liability when working backwards and limits his downfield potential.<\/p>\n
The Bucs might envision Scott as former Bowles favorite Deone Bucannon at worst and Texans nickel Jalen Pitre at best. They both gained notoriety as STAR defenders who bounce between nickel, linebacker, and safety spots.<\/p>\n
If it works out, Scott will continue to bulk up a typically immovable run defense, which Tampa has deeply committed to improving after a down 2025 season. His A+ football character and demeanor continue the energy revitalization as well, which matches up with other draft picks Rueben Bain Jr. and Josiah Trotter.<\/p>\n
What do you think, Bucs Nation? Let us know below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Buccaneers added another attack dog to their paddock Saturday, as they used their fourth-rounder on Miami defensive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,107649,107644,137,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-246971","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-tampa","9":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers-analysis","10":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers-draft","11":"tag-tampa-headlines","12":"tag-tampa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}