Florida Football: Kyle Trask never had a chance with the Buccaneers

Former Florida football quarterback Kyle Trask officially found out yesterday he will be starting the 2023 NFL season in a spot he is very familiar with as the backup quarterback. After the coaching staff of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers claimed there was an offseason quarterback competition between Trask and free agent signing Baker Mayfield, the Bucs opted for Mayfield.

In retrospect, the competition was never real, and Mayfield was always going to be the first choice for Tampa Bay.

Florida Football: Underdog once again

Trask was drafted by Tampa Bay in the 2nd round of the NFL Draft in 2021 after a season and a half of electric play with Florida football. What made Trask an intriguing NFL prospect is that his style of play felt like it would transition into the NFL.

While with Florida, Trask made Dan Mullen basically upgrade his offense to match what Trask could do. He was far more than a one read then run QB that a lot of guys in college get away with. He could dissect defenses and pick apart even the most confusing schemes.

It was understood when he was drafted by the Bucs that he would sit and learn from Tom Brady and then take the baton from him once Brady retired.

Well, Brady retired, but rather than put their faith in Trask, the Bucs went out and picked up Mayfield in the offseason.

We don’t know behind the scenes what caused the Bucs to lose faith in Trask, and this is the NFL, where nobody cares if it is “your turn.” If a team finds someone they think is better, they will sign them and play them.

But one of the super frustrating things as both a Bucs fan and a Florida football fan when watching Trask play is that he always gets paired with receivers who refuse to catch the ball even when it hits them in the hands.

Last Saturday’s preseason outing against the Jets was simply the latest example of that, as the Bucs dropped no less than four passes in the first half that hit them square in the hands.

He wasn’t supposed to play in the second half, but after an injury to the third-string QB for the Bucs, Trask was sent back out and delivered strikes that finally were caught.

But the fact that Trask was sent back out there and Mayfield took the night off also sealed the fate of what was inevitable.

Mayfield was always going to be the starter for the Bucs because he’s the QB with experience. A wise person would look at that and go, “Wait a second, how is Trask supposed to get experience if he keeps getting passed over because he doesn’t have experience?”

In truth, the Bucs are going to be terrible this season, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see Trask get opportunities during the back half of the season. This means if he doesn’t ball out despite an awful roster around him, the coaching staff will go, “See, this is why we didn’t want him either.”

It is just another bump in the road for the former Florida football star, but given his journey, he is more than capable of overcoming it.