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With Bucs cornerbacks Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish sidelined for the primary padded observe, undrafted rookie Ayden Garnes took benefit of each first-team rep. Whereas some are understandably waving the warning flag in regards to the room’s outlook, Garnes has been a shiny spot.
Final week, head coach Todd Bowles talked about him as somebody he was going to be watching carefully.
“[He has] very good cover skills – very good cover guy for a corner that small,” Bowles mentioned. “He’s got great feet. He’s got very good instincts, so I want to see him in pads as well.”
Garnes didn’t disappoint in his first padded observe, and he spoke with Pewter Report after observe about how he’s adjusting and incomes the boldness of Tampa Bay’s defensive play-caller.
Ayden Garnes Was A Huge Half Of Bucs’ Defensive Dominance On Monday
The theme of Monday’s Bucs coaching camp observe was how there was nowhere to run.
The line of defense didn’t hand over something, whereas the within linebackers (primarily Josiah Trotter with three tackles for loss) wreaked havoc behind the road of scrimmage. When it got here to the secondary, each Zyon McCollum and Ayden Garnes contributed to the unit’s dominance.
Bucs CB Ayden Garnes – Picture by: Cliff Welch/PR
From Garnes’ perspective, the group is concentrated on stacking days after forcing a number of turnovers throughout Sunday’s observe.
“We are just staying together, even through the adversity we had [on Monday with the rain],” Garnes instructed Pewter Report. “Just continue to stay together and get better every day. Like [Sunday], turnovers. We wanted to make turnovers. Today, it was just consistently putting together good days. That’s all we can ask for.”
Garnes recorded his first interception of camp throughout one-on-ones, capitalizing on an errant Baker Mayfield throw supposed for large receiver Kameron Johnson. Whereas it didn’t come throughout crew drills, Garnes mentioned it counts all the identical.
“I count it myself; the DB room counts it,” Garnes joked. “I take that as a rep, because obviously that can be a regular one-on-one rep – 3×1 away and I’m by myself – that can actually happen. I take those as something I can put into team [scrimmages]. I know it’s coming to come; I’m not going to go out there and jump for it and try to make a mistake. I know it’s going to come in 11-on-11s.”
Not solely that, however when it got here to 11-on-11 work, Garnes made a bodily play that confirmed he isn’t afraid to stay his nostril right into a deal with.
Wrapping up 6-foot-4 rookie large receiver Ted Hurst is not any simple job, however the 5-foot-11 Garnes introduced him down simply in need of the objective line and mentioned how they’ve been competing in opposition to each other.
Bucs undrafted free agent CB Ayden Garnes with a implausible deal with on the two yard line on rookie WR Ted Hurst to forestall the TD. Garnes giving up 6 inches and about 20 kilos, however nonetheless making the play.
“It’s fun,” Garnes mentioned about their back-and-forth. “Just going against him in one-on-ones, and I know we’re both rookies, so we like to compete a lot. Sometimes he gets the best of me, sometimes I get the best of him. That’s good we’re having those types of battles and he’s that type of caliber player that’s good enough to make those plays. I made that play; I was in trail. Made the play, tried to get it out and didn’t get it out, but they were short and we live another day.”
Ayden Garnes Is Constructing Confidence And Studying From Errors
Todd Bowles has proven previously he isn’t afraid to throw rookie defensive gamers within the hearth.
Essentially the most excessive instance was beginning undrafted free agent Christian Izien at nickel through the 2023 season. Izien dealt with the accountability nicely, and that preceded a wave of rookies filling that spot after him (Tykee Smith, Jacob Parrish, and now Keionte Scott).
Ayden Garnes is in a distinct boat taking part in at cornerback, however in a younger room stuffed with uncertainty, Bowles has given him an prolonged look with the primary crew and allowed him to expertise rising pains.
Bucs CBs Ayden Garnes, Jacob Parrish, Benjamin Morrison, Josh Hayes, Keionte Scott and Demarion Williams – Picture by: Cliff Welch/PR
“It comes from time,” Garnes mentioned about incomes Bowles’ confidence in him. “As soon as I got here, I tried to put my head down and just continue to learn by these guys. I know these guys have been in the league a long time — we have people that’s been here six, seven, eight years. Just learning from those guys and taking a little bit out of each day and putting it into practice and not making the same mistake. That’s how he can trust me. I know he does let me make mistakes and let me come back and fix those mistakes. That’s just what I continue to build on every day.”
Errors will come, particularly as Garnes makes the leap from the faculty ranks to the professionals. There was a play final week the place he bought burned by large receiver Emeka Egbuka on a deep ball. Regardless of giving up that play, he took it as a second to develop and realizing he could have some assistance on the again finish subsequent time.
“I know things are going to happen because DB is the hardest position in the game,” Garnes mentioned on taking the ups with the downs. “Some bad things are going to happen but just continuing to take those and reflect on it and build upon it. Like the other day, Emeka beat me on a post corner. That’s probably not going to happen again because I got a middle-of-the-field safety. I can stay outside, roll it, and I’ll be in perfect position the next time I get that route.”
Proper now, Ayden Garnes is vying for one of many final cornerback spots on the Bucs’ roster. It’s an open competitors behind the trio of Zyon McCollum, Benjamin Morrison, and Parrish. Among the many gamers behind them, Garnes has stood out probably the most. Not solely is he the youngest, however he has proven up to now nothing has been too huge for him.
The preseason is the subsequent measuring stick, however to date Garnes has stood tall in camp.
