Todd Bowles, Blaine Gabbert, Kyle Trask, Clyde Christensen And Competition
May 13th, 2022
Bucs coach Todd Bowles
On Tuesday, Bucs quarterback coach Clyde Christensen seemed pretty clear to anyone listening: The Bucs cannot find a way to get 2021 second-round pick Kyle Trask enough snaps so he can have a fair shot at pushing Blaine Gabbert for the backup job to Tom Brady.
Therefore, Gabbert is Brady’s immediate backup. End of story.
Well, after rookie underwear football practice today at One Buc Palace, Bucs coach Todd Bowles sang a different song. Bowles made it clear as day every position on the 53-man roster will have competition. And that includes Gabbert.
(Bowles did say Leonard Fournette is the No. 1 running back, but Joe thinks it is safe to assume the one guy who is safe is No. 12.)
This whole snap count thing bewilders Joe. Isn’t one reason former Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians, and by inheritance, Bowles, has such a large coaching staff so so the Bucs can utilize three practice fields so the backups would get plenty of snaps and reps?
So then how is it Trask cannot get enough snaps? That simply does not wash with Joe.
Throw in this little wrinkle: On Tuesday, within minutes of Christensen claiming Trask cannot get enough snaps, offensive line coach Joe Gilbert crowed how fun it will be this summer because there are four players with a realistic shot of winning the open starting left guard position.
Now you tell Joe how it is that Gilbert can find a way for four — four! — linemen to get enough snaps to make a clear decision on who wins the starting left guard gig but Christensen (Byron Leftwich?) cannot find enough snaps for Trask to push or beat out Gabbert (or Ryan Griffin?) for the No. 2 quarterback slot.
Unless the Bucs don’t want Trask to push Gabbert?
There are a finite number of snaps in practices. They don’t allot more just for linemen. There are X-amount of snaps. Period.
It almost smells like Christensen didn’t first clear his comments about Trask with someone at One Buc Palace. Not that there is anything wrong with that!
May 13th, 2022 at 4:40 pm
Didn’t he mean “52-man competition?” If Brady is present, he WILL be starter, yes?
May 13th, 2022 at 4:43 pm
My impression is Brady has never taken well to QB controversy or competition. I would be willing to bet its his request to have Gabbert innthe 2 spot knowing Gabbert is about as sexy a choice as a 80s K Car. Does the job, doesn’t excite the crowd, no one legitimately wants to see it in a car show. Trask would be a distraction if Brady gets hurt or shows a little age. No one’s gonna be crowing for Blaine.
May 13th, 2022 at 4:50 pm
“Unless the Bucs don’t want Trask to push Gabbert?”
This right here.
You don’t draft a QB and put him behind the GOAT, period. Bucs front office has seen what happens when you do this. In no way do you make Brady feel like he may be replaced. Keep in mind he left the patriots, green bay pissed off Rodgers and Favre among other teams that have done this.
May 13th, 2022 at 4:54 pm
So, during the year, does the NFL monitor total practice time or total snaps? It seems odd that if a team wanted to get a player snaps, they could not do so. It bespeaks internal team choice whom to give snaps to in a 3-hour practice session. ?????? Confused.
May 13th, 2022 at 4:54 pm
VATom Says:
May 13th, 2022 at 4:43 pm
My impression is Brady has never taken well to QB controversy or competition. I would be willing to bet its his request to have Gabbert innthe 2 spot knowing Gabbert is about as sexy a choice as a 80s K Car. Does the job, doesn’t excite the crowd, no one legitimately wants to see it in a car show. Trask would be a distraction if Brady gets hurt or shows a little age. No one’s gonna be crowing for Blaine.
^^^^^^^^^
You really think Tom Brady is intimidated by Trask and asked the coaches to do this? If you’re not joking, you’re out of your mind.
May 13th, 2022 at 4:55 pm
No reason Trask should not be number two if they want to continue to use him in the future, whether it be for a starter or a young number two QB.
May 13th, 2022 at 4:55 pm
“Brady has never taken well to QB controversy”
I agree, and the articles I keep reading about the big mystery of Kyle Trask are silly. Everybody knows, you piss of brady, you piss off the fan base.
May 13th, 2022 at 4:57 pm
“You really think Tom Brady is intimidated by Trask and asked the coaches to do this? If you’re not joking, you’re out of your mind.”
You think Aaron Rodgers is intimidated by Jordan Love? No, but that’s not the point. The point is the front office just hired someone to take your Job.
May 13th, 2022 at 4:57 pm
Simple answer for all of this……They are fearful that Trask will beat out Brady….
May 13th, 2022 at 4:58 pm
Yes.
May 13th, 2022 at 5:01 pm
Suh.
May 13th, 2022 at 5:08 pm
Posey99: The NFL Draft happens every year. Free Agency happens every year. There’s competition for NFL jobs every year.
Do you honestly think Brady said he doesn’t want Trask to be 2nd string, like another poster suggested?
May 13th, 2022 at 5:11 pm
Trask needs to get the majority of snaps in preseason period. Gabbert and Griffin do not need that many snaps everyone already knows what they can do or should I say can’t do.
May 13th, 2022 at 5:25 pm
“Not that there is anything wrong with that!” The Van Buren Boys picked up on the Seinfield reference Joe. Well played.
May 13th, 2022 at 5:56 pm
Brady almost never misses time.
I don’t care who mops up.
May 13th, 2022 at 6:03 pm
The coaches have seen all the film there is on Trask in the last year. If Trask was actually better than Gabbert then he would be the #2.
Its as simple as that but clearly the coaching staff values Gabbert over Trask which is a red flag.
May 13th, 2022 at 6:06 pm
Gabbert is a rag doll. Get Trask in there to win the #2 job. If he can’t, he’s not the guy for 2023.
May 13th, 2022 at 6:28 pm
“Do you honestly think Brady said he doesn’t want Trask to be 2nd string, like another poster suggested?“
Brady isn’t the GM. Licht and Arians knew that Brady just came from a place where he wasn’t wanted or didn’t “feel” wanted. Why draft a QB and stick him right behind Brady. Brady has a bad game and then you have Florida gator fans chanting. Not worth risking that, let him develop and stay behind the scenes. It’s a smart move and makes sense.
May 13th, 2022 at 6:29 pm
At this point in Trasks career I would imagine he is still learning defenses and how to read them. I’m not a huge Blaine Gabbert fan but the guy has played in an NFL game before. I would think that fact alone would make Gabbert higher on the depth chart than Trask. I would love to see Trask get in preseason games just to see what’s there.
May 13th, 2022 at 6:33 pm
Let Trask sit and learn,and lift, and absorb all things TB12
Gab is a bridge
Trask can be the next long term starter
Let the kid develop as he has before, and he has that “it” that allowed a TE in the ATL and a receiver in NY look pretty darn good
When he learns to read and react at nFL speed, he is going to be a good if not great starter
May 13th, 2022 at 6:43 pm
Joe Says:
May 13th, 2022 at 4:58 pm
So, during the year, does the NFL monitor total practice time or total snaps?
Yes.
WHY?
May 13th, 2022 at 7:01 pm
Clearly they aren’t impressed at all with what they have seen from Trask. If they know in May that he can’t be any better than a third stringer he must be playing pretty damn poorly in practices. These takes about Brady not wanting Trask as his backup are mind numbingly stupid. Brady is the GOAT. He is not worried about some scrub backup taking his job. Trust me Brady could not care less if he is second string or 8th string.
May 13th, 2022 at 7:43 pm
Now you tell Joe how it is that Gilbert can find a way for four — four! — linemen to get enough snaps to make a clear decision on who wins the starting left guard gig
Could it be simply because there are less things to evaluate with a Guard as opposed to a QB, therefore they can spread out the snaps at Guard because it’s just an easier evaluation? Just an idea.
May 13th, 2022 at 7:54 pm
TB12 is the actual Bucs GM who controls whom the back up would be. TB12 doesn’t like competition or be threaten. Just ask Jimmy G. He is worried to lose his job if he is injured or Bucs lose a few games if Trask is the back up. He knows Gabbert is no threat to him. Last year, Gabbert completed 58 % of his passes vs Trask 66% playing with garbage players without having any meaningful snaps. Gabbert has career a 56% completion, 50 Td, 47 Int and a 72% poor passing rate. No one even wanted him as a free agent last year.
May 13th, 2022 at 8:05 pm
It’s time to look towards the future. Gabbert is certainly not the future. We need to find a quarterback that’s going to start for the Buccaneers next year. Again it is not gabert, he sucks!
May 13th, 2022 at 8:08 pm
“Now you tell Joe how it is that Gilbert can find a way for four — four! — linemen to get enough snaps to make a clear decision on who wins the starting left guard gig”
This is an easy one. #1 Tom Brady is the QB there is no competition. #2 there is no Ali Marpet, there’s no starter. Why should there be a huge competition for a backup job? Someone have a better seat on the bench?
May 13th, 2022 at 8:26 pm
David Brady could start 0-6 and nobody in the city of Tampa or the franchise would be clamoring for either Gabbert or Trask to take over for him. Either you’re just trolling or your ability to think critically is seriously lacking. Jesus H Christ takes like his are so idiotic.
May 13th, 2022 at 8:47 pm
Joe should not be baffled by this. Bowles is the head coach and will give the standard boilerplate “open competition at every position” jibber jabber. That’s head coach speak, and it’s also idealistic. That’s the goal. Christensen, on the other hand is a position coach, and a realist, giving his version the way he sees it unfolding. There’s no conflict between the 2 perspectives, just different lenses. I doubt they’d keep Gabbert at #2 if he were clearly outperformed by Trask… But the snaps for the starter are the large majority, then there’s snaps for the #2… And this is necessary to get them prepared. Typically the #3 and #4 are going to be scrambling to get snaps. And Clyde has made it clear that he doesn’t feel an urgency to move Trask up to #2. This all means nothing.
The competition to start at LG is a completely different story… so comparisons don’t really apply. A backup QB competition is not necessary if you’re satisfied with the current pecking order (they apparently are)… but the LG competition is necessary to get the best player on the field immediately.
If this still baffles Joe, I can’t help you.
May 13th, 2022 at 8:58 pm
I don’t know why, but I think I have a reason. So when BA came on he bounced Fitzmagic, because if you have 2 qbs, you have 0. He didn’t want competition. Maybe the same principle at least with CC is being used here, but for Gabbert. No no needs to worry about anything, just do your job. That way Gabbert is ready if Brady goes down and can just win (God forbid). Trask is the heir apparent, however, so this is kind of backfiring in terms of PR, but they may not care either way.
May 13th, 2022 at 9:21 pm
David Says:
May 13th, 2022 at 7:54 pm
– Brady is not the GM. He’s not the head coach. He’s not the OC or the QB coach.
– He does not control who the backup is.
– If there were a disagreement in assessing who deserves #2 he may speak up, but it’s highly unlikely there would be any disagreement.
– Brady is not worried about losing his job to anyone.
It’s literally insane how much people think Brady “controls”… That’s just not how it works. The GM, the HC, OC, and QB coach care what he thinks, no doubt… and his opinion matters more than pretty much any other NFL player. That doesn’t mean he makes roster or depth chart decisions. As if he has time to worry about that…
May 13th, 2022 at 9:26 pm
Sign #93 already
May 13th, 2022 at 11:01 pm
Drafting an early round QB doesn’t rub franchise QB’s the right way. You keep him as far away and out of the picture as possible until he’s needed. I can make a list of all the bad situations this has created including Brady’s past teams. You don’t do it. Brady likes gabbert and is comfortable with him on the headset and looking a plays and reading defenses on the microsoft surface on the sideline bench, don’t mess with what’s working and don’t try to push someone that doesn’t fully understand NFL defenses into that spot. It’s as simple as that all other assumptions of trask not being worthy are overblown speculation.
May 13th, 2022 at 11:07 pm
Maybe it’s just getting Trask enough time with the starters.
As for LG- Stinnie, Hainsey, the rookie…. Who is #4?
May 13th, 2022 at 11:31 pm
I cannot believe there are people on this board who think that the GOAT QB is threatened by Kyle Trask?!!! Are you kidding me? Just pure insanity. Hey, if you’re so down on Brady and sure of Trask, just cut Brady out completely. A bunch of imbeciles. This is just as ridiculous as Rodgers being threatened by Jordan.And that whole Jimmy G situation was a total media creation. Jimmy himself said it was BS.
May 13th, 2022 at 11:37 pm
I wish one of the Joes would Brady if he’s afraid of Trask taking his job. That would be absolutely hilarious. As buttoned up as Brady is, I don’t think he could contain his laughter.
May 13th, 2022 at 11:49 pm
Posey99 Says:
May 13th, 2022 at 11:01 pm
I don’t believe Brady is threatened or concerned by Trask. Any QB entering the last year or even last few years of a career knows the team has to be looking for the heir. And if they have a problem with that, they’re douchebags. And I’m not about coddling douchebags and their egos. A good GM and HC do what’s best for the team, and developing a successor is what’s best. Brady’s a big boy, he can handle it.
May 13th, 2022 at 11:50 pm
Posey99 Says:
May 13th, 2022 at 11:01 pm
I don’t believe Brady is threatened or concerned by Trask. Any QB entering the last year or even last few years of a career knows the team has to be looking for the heir. And if they have a problem with that, they’re d0uchebags. And I’m not about coddling d0uchebags and their egos. A good GM and HC do what’s best for the team, and developing a successor is what’s best. Brady’s a big boy, he can handle it.
May 14th, 2022 at 12:54 am
It’s pretty simple. Kyle Trask is a poor man’s Danny Wuerrfel. Just not as smart.
May 14th, 2022 at 2:11 am
Posey99 Says:
May 13th, 2022 at 11:01 pm
Drafting an early round QB doesn’t rub franchise QB’s the right way. You keep him as far away and out of the picture as possible until he’s needed. I can make a list of all the bad situations this has created including Brady’s past teams. You don’t do it. Brady likes gabbert and is comfortable with him on the headset and looking a plays and reading defenses on the microsoft surface on the sideline bench, don’t mess with what’s working and don’t try to push someone that doesn’t fully understand NFL defenses into that spot. It’s as simple as that all other assumptions of trask not being worthy are overblown speculation.
There you go. You just said it that Brady prefer Gabbert to be his back up due to his experience reading defenses. That is just irrational to make Gabbert as No.2 just cause Brady prefer Gabbert. That is what OC is for on the sideline not a tier three career NFL back up named Gabbert.
You don’t draft a high pick qb to be on scout team cause of Tom B. No.2 qb should be the best qb on the roster based on his performance on the field not holding headset. What will happen if Tom gets injured ? The season probably be over with Gabbert. Then it makes sense to give Trask valuable experience to get him ready for 2023 season. We all and NFL fans know what Gabbert can do which is very limited but we wouldn’t know what a college star, Trask can do unless he is a No.2 with meaningful snaps. If Tom gets injured,
May 14th, 2022 at 7:21 am
Trask has always been a background shadow until called upon and EVERYONE gives thought to age. With that being said let it play out and who cares who is second and hopefully Brady stays good and healthy we win another SuperBowl and Brady either retires or leaves the Bucs or even sign on for another year. Whenever Brady is finished with the Bucs then Trask will get to fight for the job or he’ll goes elsewhere and I wish him the best whatever happens and you have to applaud him for his patience most would be raising sand with distractions like play me or trade me.
May 14th, 2022 at 8:05 am
So in summary, Trask can’t REALLY compete for #2 because, the practice snap-count loss to the ACTUAL #2 would be detrimental to the team, should Brady go down?
May 14th, 2022 at 10:11 am
Classic example of Christensen opening his yap too wide and Coach having to remind him who calls the shots and that all positions save one are open competition.
May 14th, 2022 at 10:42 am
@Beeej,
I see you get my confusion also. It seems odd to me that if a team didn’t have enough snaps to evaluate a player, then that player just simply sits? *SCRATCHING HEAD* Or, I’m just a moron and don’t understand how this works.
May 14th, 2022 at 11:33 am
This thread is full of very bizzare takes.
The idea Trask isnt #2 because Brady is threatened by him easily ranks as one of the dumbest takes ive ever read.
May 14th, 2022 at 12:13 pm
To think Tom Brady would be intimidated by anyone who plays the QB position is absurd. I question why spend a round 2 pick on our QB of the future then sit him behind Blaine Gabbert slowing his development. Brady can’t play forever! We need to see what Kyle Trask has to offer.
May 14th, 2022 at 2:11 pm
Gabbert has never impressed me. Give Trask every chance to be TB backup & to see if he is Bucs QB of the future.