Bruce Arians’ Words Bring Blaine Gabbert, Kyle Trask Into Focus
May 30th, 2022
Helping Todd Bowles.
When former Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians was on Pittsburgh sports radio last week, he was asked about his coaching future, if he has any.
Arians, appearing on KDKA-FM 93.7 with co-hosts Ron Cook and Joe Starkey, sounded like a guy happy he’s helping pick players, not coaching players. Of course, Arians also sounded content four years ago in retirement.
Agina, Arians said when Tom Brady had his rapture, he knew it was time to step aside and promote then-Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles because Bowles now had a quarterback to work with.
“Aw, I’m very, very happy,” Arians said when asked about coaching again. “If I wanted to coach I’d still be coaching. it was time to pass the baton on to Todd. When Tom [Brady] came back it was so easy to make that transition.
“I’m working with Jason Licht now on the 53-man roster. Watching practice and evaluating players to see what is the best team we can give Todd to put out there on the field and win a championship.”
Arians also emphasized his health is not an issue at all.
Cook then got Arians to discuss the importance of quarterbacks, which led to this exchange.
Ron Cook: BA, I remember you telling me once that you would never become a head coach unless there was a quarterback there, right? I assume that’s how you still feel, right?
Bruce Arians: Defintely brother. That’s what I tell my guys. ‘Don’t ever take a job without a quarterback.’
So basically if you do the simple math, Arians didn’t want to leave Bowles with an albatross like Blaine Gabbert or a fully unread book like Kyle Trask. Why didn’t Arians trust these these two?
Arians for the past two years has crowed about Gabbert as if the journeyman is the next Steve Young — only waiting for Joe Montana (Brady) to step aside so he could show he’s a Hall of Fame quarterback, too.
Joe thinks all we need to know about Gabbert is that twice in the past two years he was a free agent, and you never heard a peep about any quarterback-needy team bringing him in for a legitimate shot. And it is really a struggle for Joe to believe that if Gabbert sincerely had a chance to start for another team, he would instead sign a contract for much less money to handwash Brady’s jockstrap.
As for Trask, Joe will be fair and suggest he is still such an unknown that coaches don’t know what he will be or what to expect. Of course, part of this issue is on Arians himself.
No, Joe didn’t expect Trask to get much work with Brady on board but good gosh, to deny him so many snaps in practice (per quarterback coach Clyde Christensen), well, Arians had the ability to change that.
Not only has Trask never worn a Bucs’ gameday jersey, but he is also the only quarterback drafted in 2021 that hasn’t taken a snap in an NFL regular season game.
This also makes Joe wonder if the Bucs will go quarterback shopping so Bowles isn’t hung out to dry?
May 30th, 2022 at 12:37 am
When Brady retires, I have visions of Jack Nicholson’s character from The Shining. Scary.
May 30th, 2022 at 1:26 am
Yawn.
May 30th, 2022 at 3:33 am
OK you lost me. How did “Bruce Arians’ Words Bring Blaine Gabbert, Kyle Trask Into Focus”?
Only thing I picked up from that exchange is that when Tom Brady made the decision to un-retire, BA felt comfortable passing the reins to Todd Bowles because he then had a QB. That belies the question ‘Would BA have passed the reins if TB12 hadn’t returned’? That was never addressed that I can see.
Blaine Gabbert isn’t the next great Bucs’ QB; we need to move on little doggies. Will Kyle Trask ever get his chance to start for the Bucs? Personally I think he will … and that he’ll do very well over time … but anyone else’s guess is equally correct or wrong because there’s no NFL game performance to support that. With The GOAT as our QB, I don’t know why we’re even concerned at this point. It’ll play out over time … even if the media keeps dredging it up every other day.
May 30th, 2022 at 6:35 am
Isn’t it irritating that the Bucs won’t include us in the goings on behind the scenes? The season can’t get here soon enough.
May 30th, 2022 at 7:24 am
Here we go again…. It must be when the blog isn’t getting enough post joe brings up Trask or something that pits us against one another politically sigh 😞
May 30th, 2022 at 7:24 am
Whether the Bucs go QB shopping next year will depend on how Trask progresses this year. It’s rare that a good vet QB comes your way, not to many Russell Wilson types out there. Plus the cost in draft captial, and salary. So lets hope by the end of this season, grasshopper, Trask can steal the pebble from the hand of his master Brady.
May 30th, 2022 at 7:28 am
Spin a boiler plate QB comment from BA into an article, nice work on a slow news day! My bet is Trask is our #2 by end of preseason. Has to be.
May 30th, 2022 at 7:33 am
Joe has nothing against Trask….
He was drafted with the assumed blessing of Licht, BA, BL Christensen, Moore & Brady…..could they all be wrong?……Doubtful.
May 30th, 2022 at 7:56 am
More like Tom wasn’t coming back unless Bruce was out the way… They’re fine with one another just not at work . So obvious atp
GoBucs!
May 30th, 2022 at 8:37 am
Buc92@, exactly. Why is this guy still allowed to speak? Who is he again, the invisible man? Except when it comes to shooting is mouth off or blowing smoke up his own arse. Congrats you helped put a so so coach in charge of a SB contender. We’ll see how that works out. So far D not looking so good.
May 30th, 2022 at 8:49 am
We can be forever thankful to Gabbert for putting Colin Kaepernick on the bench
May 30th, 2022 at 10:40 am
The Bucs have never developed a quarterback and looks like they never will. Lefty had Carson Palmer and failed twice with Josh Rosen then Jaymiss failure and then Tom Brady. So the outlook for Trask is bleak. And if the coaches say that don’t know about him they should be bagging grocerys and not coaching in the NFL.
May 30th, 2022 at 10:43 am
I am going to enjoy this year with Brady because 2023 will be back to the roller-coaster ride so hold on tight.
May 30th, 2022 at 10:45 am
@Listnfrmafar
Well he is a 2 X AP coach of the year also super bowl winning coach. I do think he has the highest highest win percentage (.651) in Bucs history. lol
So who has the right to tell him to keep his mouth shut???
May 30th, 2022 at 10:53 am
I just dont have confidence in Trask….unless he drastically improves this year. He just looked uncomfortable amd outplayed last preseason. Yeah I know, some are gonna say he was playing with future non-nfl personnel, but he was also playing against said competition. He was inaccurate, completely dropped the ball out of his hands after the snap, nobody touched him. He just didnt look like the college player he was. Who knows, everyone is entitled to a bad few snaps or a bad day. Some just dont have that recognition speed thats needed for the nfl level. But maybe he’ll develop it, I hope.
May 30th, 2022 at 10:55 am
@Allbuccedup
Jaymiss was drafted in 2015 BA came in 2019 and all of the coaches that failed to develop Jaymiss were gone. Also after 1 season BA dumped Jaymiss and said he could not win with him. This staff has not had the chance to develop a QB
May 30th, 2022 at 11:10 am
As well as Arizona JC!
May 30th, 2022 at 11:10 am
Looks like they have their chance now JC!
May 30th, 2022 at 12:35 pm
Listnfrmafar … ‘So far D not looking so good’.
IF they get Suh (or an equivalent talent) back, we could actually be BETTER than last year (reminder: when we ranked #5 in Points Allowed?). Our Secondary will improve IMO, providing guys stay reasonably healthy of course (I like the additions of Ryan & Neal BTW).
Our ILBs concern me, especially LVD. His game is predicated on speed & quickness, and if he loses even a step because of that ankle he won’t be nearly as productive IMO. Biggest concern there is depth; hopefully Britt or Stuard (or someone else?) will surprise us, because right now we don’t have much experience behind our starters.
Our OLBs SHOULD improve over last year. Shaq is Shaq, and I expect his numbers to improve. JTS has supposedly gotten stronger (he needed that), and now has a year of NFL football under his belt. Nelson has been steadily improving each year (5 sacks & 14 Pressures last season in 358 def snaps is not that shabby for a part-timer). Even Cam Gill seems to be improving (1.5 sacks & 6 pressures in only 100 def snaps) and may very well be used more this season.
The DLine is still my biggest concern. Adding Logan Hall is nice, but losing Suh, JPP AND McLendon means that we’ve lost a bunch of snaps … and leadership. IF we go into the season without at least 1 more starter-quality NT/DT/DE I think we’ll be in trouble (and especially if we get hit with the injury bug there). But with Todd Bowles as our DC AND HC, I can’t foresee him letting that happen. There has to be something going on behind the scenes.
May 30th, 2022 at 4:02 pm
Lots of Trask talk for a guy who will have 0 impact on the upcoming season
May 30th, 2022 at 5:54 pm
So, to interpret for BA —
“I didn’t want to lgive Todd a worse QB situation to begin his HC assignment than he had with the Jets.”
MEaning — Goobert and Trashk both blow chunks and everyone in the building knows it.
May 30th, 2022 at 7:21 pm
@DR, Im pretty sure Suh will be back….thats why I havent said anything. His last year (more than likely) and he knows a SB is there for the taking. Its simple. Just need those aints cap workers lol.
May 30th, 2022 at 8:27 pm
DefenseRules, I agree with you on many points, but they are worse defensively if they don’t make some big moves. As you point out, the D line is short 3-4 top level starters. A big problem that needs to be addressed ASAP, with impact talent. Suh coming back may not be the answer, if he’s older, slower, and gimpy. They need to explore replacing him. If he’s back, he’s continuity and a place holder, but he will likely regress.
I see no way to trust Logan Hall as a rook, especially given that he’s a rook with limited experience and vs. lower level talent, and lacking a lot of technique. Same with JTS, even though he should do better in yr 2.
The secondary and LBs remain a concern, a lot depends on what Logan Ryan, Keau Neal etc. add.
The key, of course, is Bowles getting the entire D to be more disciplined, far more focused, and tougher.
May 31st, 2022 at 12:19 am
Me personally I like how they are not rushing Trask. When he was drafted last year I figured he wouldn’t be starting till at the very least year 3.
Last year he was the 4th string and I expect him to be the 3rd string behind Brady and Gabbert. You always see rookies QB’s be push in the fire and most times it doesn’t work out. Why not go through the Rodger idea and wait 2-3 years before putting him out there. Hell Rodgers first year as a starter went
5-11 so I’m not stressing about Trask.
Let’s see how he does during training camp and preseason and go from there.
May 31st, 2022 at 7:07 am
Prepare for the return of Bowles Donald reunion 2023!