The 2021 NFL Draft was littered with big QB names like Lawrence, Wilson, Lance, Fields, and Mac Jones. One name that is a little less known, Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft pick Kyle Trask. The Buccaneers took Trask with the last pick of the 2nd round, hoping to be the replacement when Brady retires. As you know, they were coming off a Super Bowl win and QB wasn’t a significant need.
What Happened to Trask?
Well, Brady retired this offseason and the Buccaneers are going with…..Baker Mayfield?? A journeyman QB who has had marginal (at best) success in this league? What happened to the development of Kyle Trask? This was his year to shine, to seize the moment, be the man. If there was ever a time to pass the torch to a new franchise guy, now would have been it.
The only logical explanation I can come up with is Trask just isn’t going to be a starting QB in this league. His numbers on the field, in live play, isn’t that impressive. Nor is there anything eye popping about his play that says: “he has something”. He appeared in one game last year going 3 of 9 for 22 yards. It’s a shame because he had an incredible collegiate career at the University of Florida and would have been a great fit with the franchise. However, his style of play does appear to be outdated for the modern NFL. He has a strong arm, but doesn’t possess strong pocket awareness, nor the mobility to elude the pass rush and gain yards with his legs.
This is also an indictment of the previous offensive regime. They had two years to train and develop him into being the franchise guy. What happened in those two years? Did he learn anything? Or were they so preoccupied with Brady and winning another Super Bowl that he got lost in the shuffle? If that’s the case, they never should have drafted him and picked someone that could have helped them win right away. He sat behind the best QB in the history of the NFL for two years and still couldn’t beat out Baker Mayfield. They failed to build him up into a starting QB and now are once again in peril at the most important position in football. And you are essentially tanking on the 2023 NFL season.
Who could be the Bucs franchise Quarterback?
The good news is that the 2024 NFL Draft is chalk full of franchise QB’s to consider. With that said, it also means Tampa is in for a long season. I’ve been saying that 4-13 sounds about right for them record wise, which would earn them a top 5 pick and a chance to draft one of these QB’s in the draft.
The problem with this is the risk reward of drafting a QB so high. More than half of the first round talents don’t pan out and Tampa Bay hasn’t had the best of luck with drafting QB’s (i.e. Jameis Winston, Josh Freeman). It would have been ideal if they had actually developed Kyle Trask and passed the torch to him this year. But that’s not what happened and Tampa Bay is back in the same position they are always in, looking for the next guy.
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