“Who Starts?”
May 19th, 2023
“J.J. McCarthy? Seriously?”
“This Joe” has written a few times and mentioned on the “Ira Kaufman Podcast” that the Bucs draft last month sets the team up to draft a quarterback next spring.
It seems “this Joe’s” observation is shared by a national NFL stenographer at BSPN.
Dan Graziano looked at all 32 teams’ quarterback situations. Count Graziano as one of the legions of observers who does not have his needle moved by the prospect of watching Kyler Traskfield.
Not just that, Graziano says if the Bucs’ season goes south early, watch the Bucs start trading chess pieces to have ammo to trade up in the draft.
Who starts?
On one hand, it’s understandable not to want to anoint a Tom Brady successor and weigh down a guy with that kind of pressure. On the other hand, this is a team that has made the playoffs three years in a row and the camp battle for starting QB is between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask. That’s not overly exciting, nor is it likely to make Tampa Bay a strong contender to unseat the Eagles as NFC champs. I think it’s fair to expect Mayfield to win this competition. But I also think it’s fair, if the Bucs do a lot of losing over the first half of the season, to expect them to be active at the trade deadline with an eye toward college prospects Caleb Williams or Drake Maye as their starter for 2024 and beyond.
Joe can think of four quarterbacks that will be first-round picks next year. Maybe as many as six, but Joe’s sticking with four. Caleb Williams and Drake Maye, of course. Then there’s Michael Penix (who really has Joe’s attention) and probably Quinn Ewers.
The other potential two? Joe has seen folks anoint LSU signal-caller Jayden Daniels and others are pushing Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Joe’s not ready to go there yet with those guys as first-round picks, unless they blow up this fall.
Of course, this chatter is moot if Baker Mayfield has a solid year.
May 19th, 2023 at 9:06 am
Lol they’re drafting a qb anyways next year doesn’t matter if baker wins or Kyle does.
May 19th, 2023 at 9:18 am
Can we just ease off next year’s draft a bit……at least let us play one game…..& lose two…..then you can let loose. I’d predict late September as a great time for mocks……
May 19th, 2023 at 9:20 am
Imagine tanking, getting the #1 pick then not making the playoffs 5 years in a row
May 19th, 2023 at 9:23 am
The only problem with the Bucs picking a QB next year is we will probably finish with a record that puts us drafting somewhere in the middle of the pack.
May 19th, 2023 at 9:31 am
Woah, woah. Come on now, we cant talk about drafting a new QB before we talk about the hiring of a new HC, which we most definately will be doing.
May 19th, 2023 at 9:33 am
Bucs are drafting a QB next your regardless how they finish. I ‘m just tired of people telling me the team is better when they are obviously not. Guess what, a team doesn’t get better when the best QB to ever play leaves. Plus, stop selling me on a coordinator that has never coordinate/ never called a play. So how did the get better. Stop the BS folks. Let’s just watch and enjoy our them. we had a great previous 3 years.
May 19th, 2023 at 9:36 am
Joestradamus lol you’re welcome btw
May 19th, 2023 at 9:36 am
A Lefty.
May 19th, 2023 at 9:37 am
The only question will be who will be the new Head Coach to pick the new highly drafted QB next year.
May 19th, 2023 at 9:41 am
I’d love it if we focused on this year rather than talking about crapping the bed for QB in next year’s draft.
May 19th, 2023 at 9:53 am
After singing the praises of Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston and pushing for the Bucs to draft those two losers, I’d lay off prognosticating about QBs. 🙂
May 19th, 2023 at 10:02 am
Draft “a” quarterback?
If they realize that they need a new QB next year “a” new one is not good enough!
They need to get into position to draft the top ranked QB in their pre draft opinion.
That means the 1st overall pick!
May 19th, 2023 at 10:20 am
Let’s hope it’s moot.
In 2014, we were giddy at the possibility of getting a Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota.
May 19th, 2023 at 10:32 am
Meh, don’t ask me to get excited about College Prospects after the hype train of Jameis crashed, burned, and exploded all over our faces and TVS for 5 years.
May 19th, 2023 at 10:40 am
Didn’t Joe recently put up stats showing that 62% of first-round quarterbacks DO NOT sign second contracts with their team? In other words, 62% are busts! So, why the obsession with tanking to draft a quarterback who is twice as likely to be a bust as not be a bust?
May 19th, 2023 at 10:59 am
BBQBUC, completely agree with you. I believe the reason some are fascinated with getting the young quarter back is because if you get lucky with that pick, the cap will be your friend for 5 years (not paying crazy QB contracts). Giving you time and money to build a Superbowl roster and make a run.
May 19th, 2023 at 11:05 am
I love going through the comment section on any Buccaneer related site or post. If I were to go back to 2020 and read what people were 100% absolutely positively guaranteed that team was going to be, the comments would read pretty much the same. That includes media as well. I will never forget an article back in ’99 by Gary Shelton (maybe Ira Kaufman) that described the upcoming NFC Championship game as Madden VS Tecmo Bowl. Anyone remember how that turned out ?
May 19th, 2023 at 11:05 am
Personally, I’m not interested in what the national media says or thinks about the Bucs. They don’t follow them every day and watch every play of every game. Sure, I’m glad our boys are getting attention and so forth. But very few of the national media know enough about the Bucs to opine intelligently. Some don’t even know football that well it seems.
May 19th, 2023 at 11:18 am
Joe has no idea what that even means.
May 19th, 2023 at 11:19 am
I think we should be talking about what we’re going to do after our next early 1st round Qb pick bust in 6 years. Gaming out ways to lose on purpose to get higher rated college Qb next year is just loser talk. Kinda by definition.
I don’t know anyone saying this team is better than the team 2 or 3 years ago. I do know I’m a hell of a lot more excited to watch this team play and develop this year than I’ve been in years. Being the super all star free agent team to me was just not what I’m use to or enjoy being a fan of. I much rather be the young underdog team who develops their own draft picks and wins as a team. I love the draft picks and really think they got a ton of real talent in UFA after the draft. I can’t wait for TC.
May 19th, 2023 at 11:33 am
@Stanglassman
Good point. Paying jillions to free agents just makes them hired guns, not Bucs. Brady wasn’t a Buc. He was a hired gun and he came in and did his job and now he’s gone and doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the Bucs. Same with Mini Mayfield. He’s here for the money and to salvage his poor career. That’s all. He’s not a Buc. And he sure as hell won’t be a Buc after this season: if he has a bad season he’ll be gone, and if he has a good season he’ll be gone chasing more money.
May 19th, 2023 at 11:34 am
@Stanglassman
Good point. Paying jillions to free agents just makes them hired guns, not Bucs. Brady wasn’t a Buc. He was a hired gun and he came in and did his job and now he’s gone and doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the Bucs. Same with Mini Mayfield. He’s here for the money and to salvage his crappy career. That’s all. He’s not a Buc. And he sure as hell won’t be a Buc after this season: if he has a bad season he’ll be gone, and if he has a good season he’ll be gone chasing more money.
May 19th, 2023 at 11:46 am
Will not matter.
May 19th, 2023 at 11:48 am
Trade White for more picks. Then we can load up and trade up if neck
May 19th, 2023 at 12:04 pm
“I much rather be the young underdog team who develops their own draft picks and wins as a team.”
F’n-A right!!!
May 19th, 2023 at 12:11 pm
Looks like Licht is looking at his cell phone praying to see a text from Tom saying how about one more year Jason.
May 19th, 2023 at 12:29 pm
BBQ-
I’m not as certain as you that Baker will be gone and that he’s only using the Bucs as a springboard and cash. I could see Baker excelling in this offense and wanting to stay and sign a long term deal. My understanding is that this new system is extremely Qb friendly. Russel Wilson looked like a very good Qb in it, cashed in and flopped in Denver. If Baker is gone it probably means Bowles and Canales are too. Then we really are in rebuild mode trading away assets to stock pile picks.
May 19th, 2023 at 12:58 pm
Who starts? At this point, does it really matter? We’re over 3 months away from Game 1 & we’ve got a bazillion other questions to answer along with the starting QB question. For instance:
o Our primary RB has ONE year experience, carried the ball less than 130 times & gained less than 500 yards last year, and oh ya, scored ONE TD rushing. Our #2 RB has less than 80 carries & 350 yards in his entire 3 year career, and oh ya, TWO rushing TDs total.
o Our primary TE has ONE year experience, had barely 40 receptions & less than 400 yards receiving last season, and oh ya, TWO TDs total. All the other TEs are unproven.
Could go through each of the position groups & come up with similar issues. We’re a young, inexperienced team at this point … by design (not that we had any choice). How well either Trask or Mayfield does will be largely dependent on how well these various position groups respond this year. Neither one of those 2 QBs appear to be the type who can carry a mediocre team on their back to the playoffs. They’ll both need a strong supporting cast. Unfortunately, the jury still doesn’t have all the facts at this point. All we can do is just let it play out.
May 19th, 2023 at 2:47 pm
Thanx for the dose of reality, @DR, but we have a new OC and we have a few really good players left over from the Super Bowl run.
I think that if Traskfield works out we can win this division despite Bowlzo’s head coaching.
If a few of these draft picks hit we’ll be in good shape.
May 19th, 2023 at 2:47 pm
The real question once the action goes live, is “how good/deep is our depth”?
May 19th, 2023 at 4:27 pm
Fred … I never said we couldn’t win the division. Matter of fact, it’s entirely doable dependent upon how much the other NFC South teams have improved. At this time of year, everyone believes they can win the Super Bowl. And they might.
But IF the Bucs are to have any chance of a successful season, it’ll be BECAUSE of Bowles, not in spite of him as you apparently feel. I can see a lot of close games this year, and in close games, our DEFENSE needs to have its act together. Those most often seem to come down to how well you do on the last 1 or 2 series.
With Tom Brady at the helm, offense was the key to 4th qtr comebacks, and TB12 did very well in those situations. Brady gave us TEN 4th qtr comebacks in just his 3 years with us. Baker Mayfield has 7 total in his 5 year career, and 3 of those came in his rookie season. So he’s had FOUR 4th qtr comebacks in his last 4 years (yup, 1 per season average). And Kyle Trask has no 4th qtr comebacks (yet) obviously.
Gut feel then is that the pressure in close games will be on the defense to hold the line (as in a 4th qtr lead). We’d all better hope that Todd Bowles still has a few tricks up his sleeve.
May 19th, 2023 at 4:57 pm
Joe always love and appreciate your opinion but how about writing a story where you don’t pencil in mayfield. If we are truly looking for a ‘point guard “ qb I assure you Trask is the better option. He understands ball security as opposed to mayfield. Hopefully many will be surprised when they see Trask is more than capable. Everyone salivates over the top rookie qbs coming out and if you watch film and look at his numbers Trask would have gone in the top 3 qbs the last two years in the draft. Guy gets no respect because our infamous coach is scared because he will never get a head coaching job after this. As I’ve said before if baker wins in a fair qb situation I’m all for it but as we know a player needs real games with the starters to see what you have
May 19th, 2023 at 6:27 pm
“NFC Championship game as Madden VS Tecmo Bowl.”
It was a reference to outdated and overly simplistic vs. modern and dynamic. In other words, the “boring” Dungy offense vs. the “greatest show on turf.”
Our defense in that game was something truly special.
May 19th, 2023 at 6:47 pm
How much should u expect from a coach when he has the worst offensive and defensive line talent in the nfl?
At what stage do u blame the guy picking the players?
May 19th, 2023 at 8:08 pm
Mayfield is a BUST. He has been nothing but inconsistent. Why on earth would he become the Bucs starter in any way? So he can play “so-so” and command us waste a bunch of money signing him to a multi-year deal because we don’t have anything else?
KYLE TRASK has all the UPSIDE. Cheaper rookie deal with a a year remaining, younger, and hasn’t had a chance to show what he can do.
If Trask stinks it up then by all means go draft another QB. But for pete’s sake, LET THE GUY PLAY. He helped make Pitts & Toney into superstars. He sets records at UF. It’s worth the gamble to let him start and see how he pans out.
Anything else than having Trask start is a TOTAL WASTE and stupid strategy move by the Bucs.
May 20th, 2023 at 1:39 am
Agreed on Pennix Joe!!! Big fan of his before he transferred to the defenseless conference too. Not sure how he translates to the NFL, bit he was definitely smart to return for another year, and I’ll definitely be keeping my eye on him. Good player that random fans seem to know nothing about unfortunately
May 20th, 2023 at 5:12 am
Tanking again Joe?
Wow Maybe there is some sort of therapy you could get for the stuck in gear stuff you seem to think is so important for us to be bashed with time and time again.
May 20th, 2023 at 7:32 am
Stanglass. Russell Wilson is a hall of famer all day long bro what you talking about?
May 20th, 2023 at 7:45 am
We will see both Baker and Trask this year and don’t be surprised if they both do well. Leftwich was lost and Brady was washed, the online was decimated, Lenny danced at the line of scrimmage and our wrs were beat up most the year. Line is revamped,white will run better and don’t rule out a vet yet, the wrs will be ready and Godwin and gage will be 100 percent. We have a couple young dynamic TEs. Bolstered our front 7 on D and got a bargain on a good safety opposite winfield
May 20th, 2023 at 10:30 am
Joe Says:
NFC Championship game as Madden VS Tecmo Bowl.
Joe has no idea what that even means.
.
.
Similar to PS5 versus Atari.
May 20th, 2023 at 10:58 am
Still not registering, sorry. (Joe thinks he’s played a home video game once in his life.)
May 20th, 2023 at 12:00 pm
Joe Says:
“Still not registering, sorry. (Joe thinks he’s played a home video game once in his life.)”
.
.
I get it. Atari was the rage when I was a kid in the 80s. Tecmo Bowl was a stand-alone football video game also from the 80s. Very primitive by today’s standards.
PS5 is the current iteration of Sony’s state-of-the-art gaming console (on which you can play the latest version of Madden).
“I will never forget an article back in ’99… that described the upcoming NFC Championship game as Madden VS Tecmo Bowl.”
Implication being that Dungy’s team was primitive compared to the Greatest Show on Turf.
May 20th, 2023 at 2:25 pm
NFC Championship game as Madden VS Tecmo Bowl.
Joe has no idea what that even means.
Maybe The large differences between both NFL football games. Maybe?
May 20th, 2023 at 3:29 pm
Here you go Joe, keep hating and under estimating Trask. Just like you wrongly predicted that Bucs were going to draft a qb this year. Wrong. None of 2034 class draft have better college stats that Trask and you already want to ditch Trask before he even plays and assuming Baker to start.
May 20th, 2023 at 4:43 pm
Don’t “hate” him. Not in the least. Never did.
May 20th, 2023 at 7:23 pm
Ok. Joe,
I rephrase that. You extremely dislike him. Not even one positive article on Trask since he was drafted. Why are you so against him? Why are you evaluating him when he hasn’t even play a NFL meaningful game? If you don’t have any positive thing on him then why do you write so many discouraging articles on him as he doesn’t even exist on this roster. You wrote;
“Of course, this chatter is moot if Baker Mayfield has a solid year”.
You already have Baker as 2023 starter. What if he doesn’t start or if he either starts or get injured or benched due to bad performance. Trask comes in and just like Florida and shine. What are you going to write then ? Are you going to apologize to the fan then?
May 20th, 2023 at 10:17 pm
Have absolutely nothing against the guy. Why must people invent sh!t to make themselves feel better?
Then the Bucs draft a quarterback next spring. Joe’s written this probably dozens of times.
Trask comes in and just like Florida and shine. What are you going to write then ?
Good for him! That’s what Joe will write.
Apologize for what??? Is Joe supposed to witness Trask’s picks in training camps and pretend they’re touchdowns??? What the hell, you want Joe to be, Hans Christian Andersen?
May 21st, 2023 at 2:10 am
Do not care who starts (thats all politics) When Trask gets his shot WITH STARTERS <—revelation (and he will) he will set this league on fire!
May 21st, 2023 at 5:56 am
Joe Says:
“What the hell, you want Joe to be, Hans Christian Andersen?”
.
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Joe wins the Obscure Reference Award!