The Tampa Bay Buccaneers look in danger of hitting the cliff that Max Kellerman once projected for Tom Brady — albeit based on one video.
Tampa Bay’s quarterbacks widely missed throws at practice in a viral video on Tuesday, May 23. Amid the reaction, SB Nation’s Joseph Acosta called it “the saddest QB competition in NFL OTAs” on Thursday, May 25.
Kyle Trask, Baker Mayfield, and John Wolford getting some work in with the tight end group. #GoBucs
Bucs quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask both missed a target apiece — widely. Backup John Wolford completed his lone pass in the video.
“Of course, it is OTAs, and routes on air isn’t exactly what you want to use to judge QBs,” Acosta wrote. “It’s May, and this isn’t a sweeping indictment.”
“However, going into OTAs, this group doesn’t exactly inspire confidence,” Acosta continued. “We have yet to see what Kyle Trask actually looks like in real, regular season football games, and Baker Mayfield had spurts of competent play mired by incompetence in Carolina, and didn’t inspire much hope in Los Angeles.”
“John Wolford, despite being a crucial part of a 2020 playoff victory for the Rams, is a career backup and might have the longest odds of actually starting,” added.
As Acosta noted, the Bucs “still have a very talented roster” and play in an NFC South division with no team that’s coming off of a winning season last year. The viral video also notably didn’t occur with Trask and Mayfield missing throws to the likes of star wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
“You could argue that the Bucs have the best receiver group in the NFC South, and the defense should be fully healthy,” Acosta wrote. “If they can get the defense firing on all cylinders, it might not take stupendous QB play for the Bucs to win the division.”
Acosta concluded that the Bucs also sink with an old roster and quarterback “uncertainty” and land a big-time draft pick such as Caleb Williams or Drake Maye.
Baker Mayfield Receives Low QB Ranking
Pro Football Focus doesn’t express confidence that Mayfield can keep the Bucs afloat either. Mayfield ranks 28th among the 32 projected starters league wide by PFF.
“It’s difficult to argue that Mayfield’s 2022 season was easily predictable, but it’s equally difficult to maintain any kind of lofty expectations for him going forward after witnessing it,” PFF’s Sam Monson wrote.
“His 50.6 PFF grade on the year was 13 grading points lower than his previous career-worst mark [which involved a torn shoulder], and it speaks volumes that the Rams were happy to let him walk after he led the team to a remarkable win just after stepping off the plane after they traded for him,” Monson continued. “Mayfield has very good play on his NFL resume, but it’s getting harder and harder to see it in the rearview mirror.”
Analyst Believes Kyle Trask Will Win Starting Job
Not everyone considers Mayfield a lock to win the starting job. Dynasty Pros’ Dustin Ludke explained why Trask will beat out Mayfield during the Pewter Report podcast.
“I personally don’t think he is the starter Week 1,” Ludke said about Mayfield. “I just think that Baker just has that little bit of too much overconfidence in his abilities, and I think he’s pressuring too hard to make the plays to try to win the job, and I think that’s going to put him in a bad spot.”
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Bucs’ Viral Quarterback Video Creates a Stir [Watch]