TAMPA — Fourth-round pick Keionte Scott has emerged as the leading candidate to open the 2026 season as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ starting slot corner, giving the franchise three rookies in critical defensive roles as it tries to recover from a disappointing 2025 campaign and the retirement of franchise icon Lavonte David.
Scott, a former Miami Hurricane whom the Buccaneers drafted for his ability to play nickel, safety and outside corner, logged 78 snaps on defense across three preseason games — far more than fellow rookies Josiah Trotter (21 snaps) and first-round pick Rueben Bain Jr. (six snaps). The heavy workload was by design after Scott missed most spring on-field work following wrist surgery.
“Yeah, very appreciative of that, just to get the time in there to get the reps,” Scott said. “Obviously, in this league, it’s more so about what you see and how many times you’ve seen it. So, to get those reps has been super helpful for me to just slow things down and be able to have some more film time, extra film time and looking at things and seeing where I did right, where I did bad and ultimately helping me change and critique myself.”
The slot corner position is effectively a starter’s job in Tampa Bay’s defense, which operated in its nickel personnel package — with an extra defensive back on the field — on 57.3% of snaps last season. Head Coach Todd Bowles has said the Buccaneers hope to rely less on blitzing in 2026 if their edge rush improves, but Scott said he relishes the pressure opportunities that come with working from the slot. “That’s definitely something I prioritize in my game, especially being a DB,” he said. “Sometimes when you get sent, you know the guys behind you are holding it down. So my goal is to just get back there and cause a mess, just to help those guys back there, too.”
Scott is part of a sweeping defensive rebuild. The Buccaneers added linebackers Alex Anzalone and Christian Rozeboom, edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad and defensive linemen A’Shawn Robinson and Rakeem Nuñez-Roches in free agency before turning to the 2026 draft. Bain is already listed as a starting outside linebacker, and Bowles said Trotter has made a “helluva case” to start at off-ball linebacker in Week One.
“Yeah, ultimately it just goes back to my mindset coming in, just being ready and being open to any opportunity I was given,” Scott said. He confirmed his comfort level is highest in the slot, followed by safety and then outside corner, but said he is working to master all three spots. “If it’s this position, what [are] the needs and wants out of that position?” he said. “Just breaking all those things down and kind of just trying to break things down and slow it down for myself is the biggest thing.”
The Buccaneers open the regular season in a little over a week, with all three rookies expected to be on the field when Tampa Bay’s retooled defense takes its first snap of the 2026 campaign.