The Tampa Bay Buccaneers spent a second-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft on an insurance policy for the eventual end of Tom Brady’s run as their quarterback.
Heading into his second season, Kyle Trask may not be any closer to seeing the field in a meaningful game for the Bucs, but there’s still steady growth happening beneath the surface.
“On the complexities of the offense,” Trask said Tuesday, when asked about the areas in which he’s improved since his rookie campaign. “In college, you grasp the playbook in a few camps and you’re good to go. I think the NFL game is way more complex. You see a lot more new defenses and coverages – definitely a lot of new fronts and blitzes. Every team has their own scheme, and they all have their own packages of fronts and blitzes and coverages and things like that. So, it’s just way more complex, but luckily I’m in a really good room of quarterbacks and I get to learn from them every single day. I think as long as I keep stacking these days then I’m on the right track.”
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles is seeing the gains in those same areas from the second-year passer.
“Well, his accuracy has been good,” Bowles said Tuesday. “Again, we’re in shorts and t-shirts. So, they know they aren’t going to get hit – the accuracy is going to be good from every quarterback. But, he’s picking up the scheme well – he’s making all the right reads right now. We’re getting to see him in some competitive periods that are making him make some quick decisions, and we like what we see.”
Trask is used to waiting his turn and making the most of his opportunities once they arrive, but that hasn’t stopped him from taking a competitive approach to his preparation.
“Probably by default it does help me,” Trask said. “That’s never been my mindset of, ‘I’m going to get there and just kind of sit and learn and take my opportunity when it arises.’ I’ve always been the one that, ‘I want to compete…