Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Will have chance to battle Mayfield
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Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Dave Canales said Wednesday that Trask and fellow signal-caller Baker Mayfield are expected to battle for the starting quarterback job, with the competition potentially extending into the final preseason contest, Kevin Patra of NFL.com reports.
Asked about whether naming a starter at this point in the offseason is preferable, Canales said that he would much rather see Trask get ample opportunity to prove himself, something which wasn't afforded to him during his first two seasons while working behind Tom Brady and hand-picked veteran backup Blaine Gabbert. With both players off the roster and Mayfield not having come close to living up to his status as the 2018 top overall pick to this point in his career, Trask -- who only has nine career pass attempts to Mayfield's 2,259 -- should have a legitimate chance to make his case.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Obstacles in path of starting job
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Trask faces some challenges in his quest to become the Buccaneers' starting quarterback in 2023, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
General manager Jason Licht and head coach Todd Bowles unsurprisingly gave Trask public votes of confidence when speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine last week, but the largely unproven 2021 second-round pick has some hurdles to clear in his bid to succeed Tom Brady as the Buccaneers' starting signal-caller. Stroud points out that Trask will not only be tasked with learning a new offense, but will also be working with a first-time play-caller in new offensive coordinator Dave Canales as well as a rookie position coach in Thad Lewis. Additionally, a young but experienced veteran such as Drew Lock or Baker Mayfield is likely to eventually be added to the quarterback room, which could be a challenge Trask isn't ready to overcome.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: No action until Week 18
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Trask completed three of nine passes for 23 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in one game during the 2022 regular season.
Trask didn't see action until the final half of play in the regular season, taking the field after Blaine Gabbert in Week 18 against the Falcons. The soon-to-be third-year quarterback could be making a big leap this offseason, however, considering impending free agent Tom Brady may very well play elsewhere in 2023 and the team likely needs to see what it has in Trask, which it invested a second-round pick in back in 2021.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Will likely be active Sunday
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Head coach Todd Bowles said Wednesday that Trask has a good chance to be active and would be the next man up if Tom Brady and Blaine Gabbert both leave Sunday's matchup against Atlanta early, Scott Smith of the Buccaneers' official site reports.
The Buccaneers are locked into the fourth seed for the NFC playoffs, so while Brady will start, it's not expected he plays the whole game. If that's the case, Gabbert would operate as the primary backup, while Trask would come in if both veteran quarterbacks are taken out. Trask was selected in the second round of the 2021 draft but has yet to appear in a regular-season game.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Inactive Sunday
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Trask (coach's decision) is inactive Sunday against the Saints.
Trask may be the heir apparent to Tom Brady, but he's still No. 3 on the team's quarterback positional depth chart. He'll continue to work in practice to move up to No. 2, ahead of Blaine Gabbert.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Encouraging finish to preseason
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Trask completed seven of 10 passes for 94 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in the Buccaneers' 27-10 preseason loss to the Colts on Saturday night.
Trask unsurprisingly got the most playing time of the Buccaneers' three quarterbacks, and he delivered a solid showing overall to wrap up his preseason. The University of Florida product should have the benefit of another low-pressure season as the No. 3 quarterback behind Tom Brady and Blaine Gabbert while also reaping the benefits of learning from both veterans.
Trask completed 11 of 24 passes for 105 yards with no touchdowns and one interception in the Buccaneers' 13-3 preseason loss to the Titans on Saturday night. He also committed two fumbles, recovering both.
A week after putting together an encouraging body of work in the preseason opener against the Dolphins, Trask's night started poorly when he came in for Tampa Bay's third offensive series of the game and never really got much better. The second-year signal-caller took a sack on his first dropback, and the Buccaneers gained all of 49 yards and turned the ball over twice, including once via a Trask interception, on his first six possessions to wrap up the first half. The offense showed more life by amassing 86 yards and a field goal on 17 plays over the first pair of second-half drives, but Trask's night is difficult to label as anything other than disappointing, although abysmal play by the offensive line that helped lead to four sacks of the young quarterback naturally didn't help. Assuming Tom Brady (personal) returns to the team early this coming week as reported by Greg Auman of The Athletic, Trask's ongoing growing pains are at least relegated to the back burner with veteran Blaine Gabbert still a buffer between the future Hall of Famer and the University of Florida product in the regular season.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Likely No. 3 QB to start season
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Buccaneers quarterback coach Clyde Christensen said Tuesday that he doesn't expect Trask to compete with Blaine Gabbert for the No. 2 spot this season, Greg Auman of The Athletic reports.
With the return of Tom Brady, neither quarterback is expected to see the field, but it sounds like the veteran Gabbert has the primary backup spot locked down heading into training camp. There was speculation that Trask could compete with Gabbert after being selected by Tampa Bay in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft, but the second-year quarterback is apparently headed for another developmental year.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Role now in flux
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Trask, who was expected to compete for the starting quarterback job in 2022 before Tom Brady's decision to unretire, still could have a chance at the No. 2 role in the coming season, Greg Auman of The Athletic reports.
The soon-to-be second-year pro was, by all accounts, going to get a legitimate shot at competing for the starting job in training camp, likely against trusted veteran Blaine Gabbert. Naturally, Brady's return completely nixes those plans, but it could still benefit Trask. Not only will the Florida product avoid potentially being thrust into the top job before he's ready, but Brady's presence for perhaps only one more season could create a sense of urgency to ensure Trask gets to work directly behind the future Hall of Famer as opposed to utilizing that spot on the currently unsigned Gabbert for the third consecutive campaign.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Ragged showing in extended action
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Trask completed 13 of 26 passes for 131 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions in the Buccaneers' 34-3 preseason loss to the Titans on Saturday night. He also rushed twice for minus-3 yards and fumbled once, but it was recovered by the offense.
The rookie played the entire second half and certainly took his lumps, short-circuiting a pair of drives with interceptions at the Titans' 47-yard line and midfield. On the brighter side of things, Trask's final line was appreciably better than the 4-for-15 showing he put up in his pro debut against the Bengals last Saturday, and he certainly will benefit from the extended amount of reps he received while dropping back 26 times. The University of Florida product has already demonstrated why he's a clear long-term developmental project at this point in time, but he'll look to head into the regular season with a good showing in what will very likely be extended playing time again in next Saturday's exhibition finale versus the Texans.
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Buccaneers' Kyle Trask: Rough preseason debut
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Trask completed four of 15 passes for 35 yards in Saturday's preseason loss to the Bengals.
The rookie entered the game midway through the third quarter as Tampa Bay's fourth QB of the night and did not look ready for prime time. Trask, taken in the second round of the 2021 draft, is purely a developmental project with Tom Brady locked into the starting role and veteran Blaine Gabbert in the No. 2 spot on the depth chart. The Bucs' season likely would be in a massive tailspin if the 23-year-old were to get any regular-season reps.
