Getty Image / Al Pereira
With Tom Brady retiring following last season, the Buccaneers are pinning their hopes on Baker Mayfield at quarterback. But, the team feels like they may have something in Kyle Trask.
Kyle Trask was drafted with the 64th overall pick at the end of the 2nd round of the 2021 NFL Draft to sit and learn behind Tom Brady.
That’s what he’s done the past few years, as he’s thrown just nine passes in two seasons in Tampa Bay while Brady led the team to back-to-back NFL South Championships. But, at Florida, he showed the potential of a great pocket passer.
Kyle Trask was a relatively unheralded recruit when he signed with Florida in the class of 2016. He was the team’s starter in 2019 and 2020, where he put up huge numbers under then-coach Dan Mullen.
His best year was in 2020, where he led the Gators to the brink of beating Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and put up Heisman-worthy numbers. Trask threw for nearly 4300 yards with 43 touchdowns against just 8 interceptions as he led a prolific passing attack. His mobility is limited, but there’s no doubt about his ability to throw accurately for the pocket.
Kyle Trask has been pretty good in the preseason, going 26-38 for 317 yards a touchdown and an interception. That’s left quite an impression on Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales. Here’s NFL.com with more.
“Oh, absolutely,” offensive coordinator Dave Canales said on Thursday, via the team’s official website. “And the cool part about us is we’ve got all the film, so we get to watch all the quarterbacks that are playing in the preseason, whether they’re playing the starters for a few series or the backups for a few series. If you watch Kyle’s film and you throw on any of the games across the league, you’ll see this is a real talent — this is a real starting-level talent at quarterback. He just has [calmness] in the pocket, he’s accurate and he just stays cool throughout the whole thing — good or bad series, he’s right back on it. Pretty cool”
I get the feeling that if they struggle early in the year, they won’t hesitate to bring in Kyle Trask to replace Baker Mayfield.
The Buccaneers open the season on the road against the Minnesota Vikings.