Buccaneers Carlton Davis III Aiming to be 'Most Feared Corner' in NFL

As training camp moves forward, the Bucs have lofty goals, and so do their players.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers plan on playing football into mid-February with their last game being played in Arizona for what could be the franchise's third championship, and quarterback Tom Brady's eighth. 

Regardless, Brady is already established as one of - if not the best to ever play the game. 

Bucs cornerback Carlton Davis III has similar goals for himself, and it all starts with becoming the top cornerback in the NFL, this year.

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"I want to dominate the league," said Davis, according to Buccaneers senior writer and editor, Scott Smith. "I want to be the premier corner in the league. I want to be the most feared corner. I want to lead the league in pass break-ups [and] interceptions, and I want every NFL team to know that I'm an issue."

In 2021, Davis scored a 73.8 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus, ranking 13th among all NFL corners with at least 530 coverage snaps. 

Targeted 69 times on those snaps, Tampa Bay's No. 1 corner allowed just 55.1 percent of those to be completed, placing him eighth in the same group.

That ranking places him in good company with the likes of new Los Angeles Chargers cornerback J.C. Jackson, A.J. Terrell of the Atlanta Falcons, and his teammate, Jamel Dean.

As Davis looks to climb even higher on the league respect ladder, he'll have no shortage of challenges at every practice to help sharpen his skills. Starting with the Hall of Fame quarterback he has to face every day. 

"Just to be able to go out there and compete, like bro, Tom Brady is our quarterback," Davis said about competing on getting excited for practice. "Like I’m going against him every day. How can you not get hype? This dude is the best football player to ever play."

Lining up across from the likes of receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin doesn't hurt either, and now Davis is adding Julio Jones to the list of teammates making him better with every rep. 

“[He’s still the] same guy, same guy. Still a freak, huge, looks like a tight end, runs like Scotty [Miller], and stops on the dime like Jaelon Darden, so it’s like the whole package," Davis said of Jones, a receiver he knows well from their Buccaneers vs Atlanta Falcons matchups over the years. "He’s bringing back memories of playing him in Atlanta before he was hurt. It was a tough match-up, but having him on our team, being able to compete with him, going to war with him this upcoming season - it’s exciting for me. I always love a good competition in practice that gets me ready for the season...It’s fun to come to practice and go against three or four Hall of Famers every day and knowing that if you can win here, you can win anywhere.”

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That's a good attitude to adopt, because the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will need Davis and all the players to win at home, but also on the road. 

Especially in Week 1 when the team travels to face the Dallas Cowboys to open the season. 

But we'll talk more about that, later.

For more on this and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers check out James Yarcho and David Harrison on the Locked On Bucs Podcast!