Getty Tom Brady and Byron Leftwich converse during the Buccaneers' playoff game on Jan. 23.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers likely won’t take a quarterback in the NFL Draft, but the team will work out a promising prospect anyway.
Tampa native and South Dakota State quarterback Chris Oladokun will work out for the Bucs on Thursday according to an NFL source via Pro Football Network. The Pittsburgh Steelers also have interest in Oladokun, and he had a pre-draft workout with the Arizona Cardinals.
Chris Oladokun going off right now for South Dakota State.
3 TDs (2 pass, 1 rush)
#USF fans have to be happy for the Sickles alum. @1Chrisoladokun0 deserve this happiness.
Tampa Bay already has four quarterbacks on the roster with Tom Brady, Blaine Gabbert, Kyle Trask, and Ryan Griffin signed for 2022, but the team could add another quarterback for rookie mini camp. It would be a longshot for Oladokun to make the practice squad or the team, but that’s been his narrative since childhood. He likes to talk about the youth coach who told him he couldn’t play quarterback.
“I still remember it every day,” Oladokun told Pro Football Network. “I’d love to see him today, to see what he thinks. That’s been such a motivating factor my whole life. It still sticks around with me because I feel like I’ve always been trying to prove myself to other people and prove myself right.”
Fast forward to his 2021 season at SDSU, Oladokun threw for 3,164 yards and 25 touchdowns versus seven interceptions, and he rushed for 166 yard and two touchdowns. He led the Jackrabbits to an 11-4 record, which included wins over Colorado State and FCS champion North Dakota State.
Exceptional play from Chris Oladokun on 3rd & 4
Jackrabbits now in front 17-0 out in California
“Everything came to fruition,” Oladokun told Pro Football Network about his 2021 season. “All the hard work that I’ve put in this last five, six years all came out this year. It’s something that I always knew I could do. But, I feel like a lot of people didn’t and they got to see that this year.”
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Oladokun Path from Tampa to NFL Draft Prospect
Oladokun played at Sickles High School in Tampa before playing at South Florida, where he saw little playing time. He transferred to Samford in 2019 and put up 2,058 yards and 18 touchdowns versus seven interceptions plus 491 yards rushing and eight touchdowns.
“You go through three schools and a lot of people speculate what happened,” Oladokun told the Draft Network.
Oladokun only played in two games during the shortened 2021 spring season for the Bulldogs. He transferred to SDSU, which needed a quarterback after losing its starter, Mark Gronowski, in the spring FCS title game.
Oladokun Played in Pro-Style Offense at SDSU
Oladokun has a variety of offensive experience from playing in three different college programs.
“I’ve played in a lot of different systems so I definitely have a strong ability to pick up and learn different systems,” Oladokun told the Draft Network. “I’ve played in systems where we threw the ball 60 times per game and systems like this past year when I played in a pro-style offense. Obviously, that’s more geared toward the league.”
SDSU runs a pro-style offense, similar to rival NDSU, which produced three NFL quarterbacks — Trey Lance, Carson Wentz, and Easton Stick. Oladokun played in an Air Raid offense at Samford.
“Coming from USF and Samford we didn’t really mess with the offensive line at all, they had their own calls because we were going so fast in a no-huddle offense,” Oladokun told the Draft Network. “Then going to South Dakota State, we’re huddling up every play, I’m having to control the clock and figure out things like that. At the line of scrimmage, I did have the freedom to slide protections and get us in the best possible play, so they were good things for me to learn and progressively get better at during the season.”
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