Kyle Trask, Ke’Shawn Vaughn Show Progress As Preseason Wraps

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn with the 76th overall pick in 2020 and then nabbed quarterback Kyle Trask at number 64 in 2021. Both were coming off dominant runs in the high-powered SEC, with Vaughn rushing for 2,272 yards and 6.4 per carry in two seasons at Vanderbilt and Trask finishing fourth in the 2020 Heisman Trophy voting after throwing for 43 touchdowns. Neither was necessarily expected to have a huge role on a loaded Buccaneers offense right away.

As it turned out, the Buccaneers signed Leonard Fournette after he was released by the Jaguars in 2020, just a few months after drafting Vaughn, and that has limited the young back’s exposure in his first two seasons. Meanwhile, Trask landed in a quarterback room with the G.O.A.T., and the Buccaneers also had an experiened backup for Tom Brady on hand in Blaine Gabbert. Vaughn and Trask had to look to the future just a bit.

But the future comes on fast, and eventually some questions have to be answered. With the Buccaneers giving Fournette a multi-year contract in the spring and then drafting ASU back Rachaad White in April, will Vaughn be able to carve out a role in the Bucs’ offense now and in the years to come? And given that the Brady era could end as soon as next offseason, is Trask a potential long-term answer under center?

Those answers are still in development, but both young players helped their causes on Saturday night in Indianapolis, as the Buccaneers finished their 2022 preseason with a 24-10 loss to the Colts.

The Bucs’ coaching staff gave Brady and the starting offense its first work of the three-game preseason, but that only lasted one possession, a 66-yard hurry-up field goal drive. After that, as has been the case throughout the preseason, the team’s reserves struggled to find consistent production on offense, converting just one of 11 third-down tries and finishing with 272 yards of offense. But Vaughn was a bright spot, particularly on the team’s one touchdown drive, a second-quarter march led by Gabbert. After one drive featuring Fournette and two in the hands of White, Vaughn got the call and put the ball on the goal line with consecutive sharp runs of 14 and 12 yards up the middle. He powered it in himself on second-and-goal from the one to give the Bucs a short-lived 10-7 lead.

“I thought he had a good night,” said Head Coach Todd Bowles. “I thought he hit the holes well, I thought he had some positive yards. He’s tough. He did some things he hasn’t…