OTA Practice Notes
June 1st, 2021
Bucs players work out on a side field beneath the giant Buccaneers flag at One Buc Palace today.
Yes, Joe was among the group of about a dozen or so local pen and mic club members watching Bucs OTA practice today. Below are just a few observations not intended to make a guy a Hall of Fame player or the first man cut this summer. It’s June 1 and the players are not in pads and there is no hitting. Think flag football as you read these notes. If you think you may be triggered by reading this piece, you may want to try to read the many tens of thousands of other stories Joe has written for this site instead.
* God forbid if Ryan Griffin and Tanner Hudson are in a Bucs game together (that means the Bucs have a sh!tload of injuries), but it seems they have good chemistry. Time after time Griffin threw to Hudson, who made seamless catches of Griffin’s tight spirals. And Griffin’s passes to Hudson seemed always on the money.
* Jaelon Darden (he wears No. 1) is hit right in his number on a look-in pass from Kyle Trask.
* Jaylon Mickens goes low to dig up a throw from Trask along the left sideline.
* The immortal Cyril Grayson gets open over the middle and a pass from Griffin is just off Grayson’s fingertips.
* Darden with a good running catch along the left sideline getting both feet in on time, hauling in a Trask pass.
* Trask hits Grayson with a perfect pass over the middle. Trask’s next pass is way high to the left side that Lawrence White IV nearly picks. Overall Trask looks much sharper than last week and this pass may have been his worst of the day. As practice grew longer, Trask got even better, and before the end of practice Trask was impressive with his long passes.
* Griffin connects deep left with tight end Jerell Adams.
* Griffin throws to the left side and there is nobody home.
* Hudson gets past the defense down the left sideline and Griffin hits him deep. You will read about this connection a few more times in this here article.
* This time it is Trask to Hudson. On a crossing pattern from the left side Hudson stretches out to haul in Trask’s offering.
* Trask hits Giovanni Bernard on a screen pass to the left and Bernard gets solid yardage running behind a convoy of blockers. Joe notices that whenever Bernard senses defenders coming near, he immediately covers up the ball with both arms.
* Trask throws just over the hands of Codey McElroy who may have heard footsteps from a hard-charging Grant Stuard.
* Griffin is working on rollouts. Joe didn’t notice if Trask working on this or not.
* Griffin on a quick-hitter to Travis Jonsen along the left sideline on a crossing pattern. Jonsen was flying and Joe isn’t sure if he got both feet inbounds or not.
* Joe noticed one play where Trask, if there was hitting involved, took too much time and would have been flushed, hit or sacked in a real game. It was the only time Joe noticed this about Trask. Last week there were several plays like this.
* Joe cannot remember seeing this from the Bucs before. But while practicing field goals near the end of practice, at one point special teams coach Keith Armstrong hollered and the entire field goal kick team raced from the sidelines onto the field and kicked a field goal to mimic a late-half/game situation. The field goal was about 35-40 yards. Jose Borregales was doing the kicking and Griffin was holding.
* Back to 11-on-11. Griffin hits Hudson over the middle for a big gain.
* Trask throws a bomb down the right numbers, a beautiful pass that Mickens hauls in, jukes his defender, and houses the play.
* On a crossing route from the left side, Hudson has a Trask pass hit him right in the numbers. Next play, Hudson has another pass hit him in the hands, this time from Griffin along the left side. BBBUUUTTT the ball hits the ground. It seemed as if Hudson tried to turn upfield before he secured the ball.
* Another big gain on a screen pass from Griffin to Bernard. Somebody got the attention of a coach because Joe heard someone holler, “There you go!”
* Grayson hauls in a deep pass from Griffin down the right sideline, fakes out a couple of defenders and houses the play.
* McElroy is between three defenders up the left hashmark and Trask threads the needle as McElroy skies to make sure he comes down with the ball instead of it being picked. Must have been a blown coverage of some sort because Joe heard a defender say, “I’m sorry.”
* Hudson drops a Trask pass and Hudson cannot believe it.
* This is a perfect example of getting open in space. Mickens is surrounded by a box of defenders (four, two linebackers, and defensive backs each) but finds space right in the center of the box and Trask nails him over the middle.
* McElroy catches a pass from Trask but a coach doesn’t like the way McElroy is holding the ball as Joe heard someone holler “Tuck it in!”
* Trask throws to Grayson down the right sideline and is covered like fleas on a dog. But somehow, Grayson found a way to haul the pass in.
June 1st, 2021 at 4:45 pm
Sounds like the offense had a good day!
June 1st, 2021 at 4:48 pm
… so J, how Trask did today? do you like anything??
June 1st, 2021 at 4:55 pm
Thanks Joe!
June 1st, 2021 at 4:56 pm
Don’t feel like reading the post, eh?
June 1st, 2021 at 5:00 pm
Sounds like Trask has picked up his game.
June 1st, 2021 at 5:01 pm
thanks very much Joe— keep em coming
June 1st, 2021 at 5:04 pm
Well, I know one thing. This post got me fired up! And many of the players on the field won’t even make the team.
June 1st, 2021 at 5:05 pm
Why do we use the punter as a kick holder, using a quarterback creates additional options
June 1st, 2021 at 5:06 pm
Punters spend way more time with kickers. Punters hold for kickers all day long in practice. Quarterbacks are practicing with the offense — third-string quarterback is often running the scout team.
Decades ago you rarely had anyone but a backup quarterback as a holder. Joe once remembered the Cardinals had a Hall of Fame cornerback as a holder. Why? Because if the field goal was blocked he would be able to run down the return man.
June 1st, 2021 at 5:31 pm
Did Trask practice, Joe? Did the defense practice?
June 1st, 2021 at 7:01 pm
Good on Trask, Good on the team!
Hopefully the Bucs have gotten it right this time so the future at the QB position will be set for many years!
June 1st, 2021 at 7:42 pm
That there Darden sounds like a guy who has to be on the field. He going to steal a lot of PT, and not just on ST. This guys has to play, and play now.
June 1st, 2021 at 7:57 pm
Thanks for the info as always Joe!
June 1st, 2021 at 8:13 pm
sounds like we can let all the starters go save a bunch of money and have a great football team LOL
June 1st, 2021 at 8:15 pm
Great detail in explaining Joe,could mentally picture every play
June 1st, 2021 at 8:49 pm
That was a fun read
June 1st, 2021 at 9:35 pm
Last I saw of Grayson he was clanging Brady’s pass off of his helmet. Nice to know he can catch in flag football at least,
June 1st, 2021 at 10:44 pm
Thanks for the kind words.
June 1st, 2021 at 10:54 pm
I want to know who will make the best beerr truck or UPS driver.
June 1st, 2021 at 11:33 pm
What does Trask’s velocity look like? Is he throwing NFL passes, or is he throwing like Danny Wuerffel, like he did in college. I’m genuinely curious how he looks compared to the other QBs – if the ball is hanging in the air or getting there fast. I hate his college tape, everything is too slow, the ball hangs in the air too long, and I’m curious how much he can speed things up without losing accuracy.
June 2nd, 2021 at 12:21 am
Trask should be cut immediately, after that performance.
June 2nd, 2021 at 7:24 am
C’mon Joe – what Rod Munch asked…what’s the skinny on Trask’s arm strength? Enquiring minds want to know.
June 2nd, 2021 at 8:11 am
There are a few people on here asking about Kyle Trask’s arm strength.
Why? Did you never see a gator game? His arm strength is absolutely fine.
Besides, the most important thing is processing the coverages and going through reads. The better and quicker you do that and are able to release the ball, the less arm strength you actually need. Arm strength is extremely overrated.
Two of the greatest ever, Brady and Manning, never had elite arm strength, they were smarter than everyone else
June 2nd, 2021 at 11:53 am
Trask is playing well against 2-3rd string. It’s a good start.
June 2nd, 2021 at 4:38 pm
It seems like a bunch of good QB’s with good arm strength have only medium sized arms, not big buff biceps like most linebackers. That tells you that most of “arm strength” is really mechanics with good rotation of the chest and thighs and timing of such moves in a smooth and fluid manner, i.e- Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and little Drew Brees. That’s why QB’s tend to be better golfers than most other football players.
June 2nd, 2021 at 5:57 pm
Awesome play-by-play descriptions, Joe! You should write for a living. (LOL) These practice notes are the only “real-time” way to get excited and hear what’s going on. Please continue, it’s appreciated!!