Bruce Arians likes where Kyle Trask is ahead of preseason opener
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By: Bailey Adams
Tampa Bay is in a position where it can bring the rookie quarterback along slowly, and it sounds like he’s progressing well.
In hopes of preparing for life after Tom Brady—whenever that time may come—the Buccaneers selected former University of Florida Heisman Trophy candidate Kyle Trask with their second-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft.
Because it still has Brady and is more than happy to have Blaine Gabbert back him up this year, Tampa Bay’s coaching staff can afford to bring its rookie quarterback along slowly. From the start of training camp, he’s been seen getting reps with the threes and fours, and when the team’s initial depth chart was released on Wednesday, he was listed as the No. 4 quarterback.
But don’t let his position on the depth chart fool you. Bucs head coach Bruce Arians said after Wednesday’s practice that he likes where his rookie signal-caller is right now, noting that his fundamentals are progressing nicely:
“Really good. He was outstanding in every snap he had today. Got the ball out of his hands. The last one was probably his only – it wasn’t even a bad throw, there wasn’t anybody open. Fundamentally, he’s really getting better, and I like where he’s at.”
Not that the Bucs will need to see him on the field for regular season action any time soon, but it’s nice to hear that Trask is coming along in his first NFL camp. With the preseason opener just days away, we should get a good look at him in real game action for the first time. He’ll surely be one to watch in the latter stages of that contest.
While Trask’s potential involvement in Tampa Bay’s future plans makes sense, a dilemma does exist for 2021. The Bucs have four quarterbacks on their roster that they like, but they’ll have to stash one of them on the practice squad. It won’t be Trask, so it’ll very likely be longtime third-stringer Ryan Griffin, who the team has long been a fan of. And if that’s the case, there’s always the potential for him to be plucked from the practice squad by another team. The Bucs will just have to hope against hope that such a day doesn’t come.
For now, though, we’ll get a chance to see all four quarterbacks against the Cincinnati Bengals as the Bucs—weather permitting—open their exhibition schedule at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday night.
