Rare speed and an early promise; Zyon McCollum: path to Tampa



The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ found one of the fastest cornerbacks in the 2022 Draft with their 5th round pick.

Sam Houston State’s Zyon McCollum saw it coming.

Bucs scouts told him if he posted a sub 4.45 second 40 yard dash, he’d be on their board this weekend.

He blew past that mark with a 4.33 second dash this spring – the third fastest among all corners who were clocked.

And the promise?

“They weren’t lying,” McCollum told the Tampa Bay Times.

He noted that he penciled his name into their roster weeks ago, when he texted his agent “Zyon McCollum is going to be a Tampa Bay Buccaneer.”

McCollum will join the Bucs young cornerback core led by Carlton Davis and Sean Murphy-Bunting.

He wants to make an impact right away.

“I want to be somebody who contributes from Day 1, whether it’s special teams or on defense. And I think that competitive edge in me, just being relentless and going all out, I think a lot of people feed off that,” he told the newspaper.

The 6-2, 199-pound corner started all 12 games in 2021.

In that span, he had 50 tackles, two for loss, three interceptions and five pass break-ups.

McCollum’s twin brother, Tristin played safety and was a 2022 NFL Draft prospect.