The Bucs’ quarterback competition between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask has left many with an opinion on the matter. Former Bucs quarterback Shaun King is among them, and he feels very strongly that one of these quarterbacks is not up for the position.
King, who is a Tampa local, was on the Bucs’ Super Bowl XXXVII winning roster and started in 21 games over five seasons for Tampa Bay. Apparently, he is not a fan of third-year quarterback Kyle Trask.
King Isn’t Fond Of Kyle Trask’s Game
As a co-host on his radio show VSiN Live, the Sports Betting Network, King severely criticized the quarterback. He called him out for his lack of growth over two seasons when was able to learn under the tutelage of the greatest of all time — Tom Brady.
“Kyle Trask stinks,” King said. “Listen, if Kyle Trask had done anything in practice during his two years backing up Tom Brady, Tampa doesn’t go out and sign Baker Mayfield. He’d have had to have been terrible in practice. Because when you draft a quarterback second round, you want to be right. Jason Licht wants that pick to pan out.”
Trask was never going to be the starter with Brady in town, but there was a fair question over not being able to beat out Blaine Gabbert for the backup job, especially in his second season. Whether or not he had a true shot at doing so is debatable to an extent, though.
Trask rarely even dressed on game days over his first two seasons and first appeared in the regular season finale last year, completing 3-of-9 passes for 23 yards in the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Falcons on the road.
Trask automatically moving up the depth chart just because the previous two quarterbacks are no longer on the Bucs does bring reasonable sense of concern. With Mayfield’s signing, many have anointed the former Heisman Trophy winner to be the starter even before training camp.
Those defending Trask would point to his lack of practice with Bucs starters like Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, referring to the fact that Trask had plenty of success with many great talents at the University of Florida. Considering the Bucs have many new coaches on the offensive staff, a fresh set of eyes and a different playbook gives Trask and everyone a clean slate.
Offensive coordinator Dave Canales has maintained that this will be an open competition. Head coach Todd Bowles has confirmed as such, commenting that this could go all the way until after the final preseason game.
On a recent Pewter Report Podcast episode, Canales discussed what he’s liked about both quarterbacks. In specifics to Trask, Canales has marveled at the young quarterback’s ability to see the vertical seems on longer routes and properly reading the back end defender on those plays.
He’s also complimented Trask for making all kinds of cool throws and properly functioning with his mobility better than Canales expected. The quarterback discussed recently how he was getting more lean this year because of this style of offense.
King Likes The Bucs’ Win Total
It’s apparent that King is Team Mayfield after stating his distaste for Trask. But what he really likes the most is Mayfield’s ability to get the Bucs at least seven wins this season. He mentioned he’s been getting daily practice reports, which has helped his decision. In a bad NFC South, anything is possible.
“Still in research mode with Tampa,” King said. “I’ve got boots in the ground there in Tampa; every practice, I’m getting reports,” King stated. “Because I think if what I think is true, there’s tremendous [betting] value with Tampa.
“But I’m also trying to really get a grasp on why this win total is as low as it is [at] 6 1/2, specifically because of the division the Bucs are in. The NFC South is, let’s be fair, the worst division in the NFC this year.”
Depending on who wins the quarterback battle, King may have a different thought when the Week 1 begins.
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