Bruce Arians Breaks Down The 2021 Draft Class … Minus One Player
August 25th, 2021
Rookie QB Kyle Trask
The fearless, 68-year-old leader of our beloved Buccaneers was talking young Bucs yesterday on national radio.
“I love this [draft] class,” Arians told SiriusXM NFL Radio. “Joe [Tryon] has been exceptional. He’s obviously going to help us a ton on special teams because he’s a great athlete. Yeah, he’s flashed. He’s really flashed against our best players as far as a pass rusher.
“Kyle Trask is everything we thought he’d be as a quarterback. We’ve got plenty of time to get him ready but I like where he’s at. You know [Robert] Hainsey, he can play four positions on the offensive line. Jaelon Darden has made his mark and both those linebackers [K.J. Britt and Grant Stuard]. So it’s been a great class. They’ve all got a role right now.”
Joe heard all that and the fire in Arians’ voice and got a little extra pumped up. But what about rookie cornerback Chris Wilcox, the seventh-round pick out of BYU? He did have a couple of tackles against the Titans. But will he be here next week?
August 25th, 2021 at 10:59 am
Trask is the best.
August 25th, 2021 at 11:01 am
Final cuts are gonna be interesting. I’m nervous about special teams. We are unacceptably laughable
August 25th, 2021 at 11:02 am
I hope Grant Stuard makes the team……I am really rooting for him!!!!
August 25th, 2021 at 11:03 am
Trask may develop into a very good QB. Tryon.. a star in the making, assuming he doesn’t succumb to Josh Freeman syndrome or injury. The rest… hopefully can develop their games into important players on this team, and maybe even this year on Special Teams.
August 25th, 2021 at 11:09 am
I new Tryon was a steel of a deal… He would have been a top 10 pick had he played his Sr. year at Washington.
Trask needs to improve his arm strength. Not much zip on those passes but his accuracy is solid.
I’m really rooting for Grant Stuard to make the team. His motor never quits…
Go Bucs!!!
August 25th, 2021 at 11:15 am
Marine, I agree with all your observations here. Trasks arm strength has actually been a bit of a surprise given what I was expecting. In a positive way. Stuard is a special teams demon at a minimum. If he gets cut I hope he clears waivers…
August 25th, 2021 at 11:17 am
Trask will be be Brady’s backup next year and maybe 2023. After that, Bucs will have a decision to make about making him a starter. They better hedge their bet at that time.
August 25th, 2021 at 11:27 am
I heard that the problem with Trasks “arm strength” had alot to do with mechanics and footwork. And if they can correct those things, arm strength shouldn’t be a problem. Hope so. He has touch on the long ball. It is those sideline throws and such that need improvement, that require more zip; those that Brady had a problem with, possibly because of that knee issue .
August 25th, 2021 at 11:35 am
Trask has touch, and some of his passes were dropped that should not have been.
Darden is exciting, and Tryon is going to be awesome.
August 25th, 2021 at 11:41 am
Perhaps Stuard is showing serious will & want on ST’s, that headhunter mentality.
On defense, he seems a half-step slow, which was the knock against him before the draft.
August 25th, 2021 at 11:42 am
I agree that this is going to be good class. I think Tryon, Trask, Hainsey and Darden will all work out. Not so sure about Britt and Stuard. They just don’t have the speed needed to cover in space. Wilcox does have the speed but didn’t seem to know what he’s doing, so maybe he makes the practice squad and learns/develops.
August 25th, 2021 at 11:50 am
So well said Mike. My eyes tend to agree with your thoughts.
August 25th, 2021 at 12:09 pm
To be an accurate passer in the NFL you have to have good arm strength.
You cannot have it both ways, the instant your arm strength drops the balls become in accurate. Inaccurate passes = turnovers or at the very least underthrown balls.
Not every throw needs to be put on a rope, over powering a pass will = deflection and ints. JW when here was plagued with over powering short passes, which led to the deflections.
August 25th, 2021 at 12:17 pm
Tryon – Great. Trask – TBD but a smart gamble.
Hainsey – Bad pick. The guy was injury prone his entire college career. He’s been injury prone in camp. He wouldn’t last a season as a starter or even an extended period of time. Fortunately the Bucs are loaded at OL depth.
August 25th, 2021 at 12:17 pm
Could Grant Stuard become the 2nd Mr. Irrelevant on the Bucs final roster?
August 25th, 2021 at 12:41 pm
Sly, I did not know about an injury history with Hainsey so I looked it up. Am I missing it, but three of his 4 seasons he played all games. His junior season is when he missed games but no other.
If I am reading correctly, it looks like he played 3 years of varsity high school without missing time either.
Do you know something about his injury prone history that is not evident?
August 25th, 2021 at 2:18 pm
When I seen Tyron come in the Cincy game n right off he smoke their qb n got a bs flag on it n Trask I’d really like to see him with first offense n see how he does.
August 25th, 2021 at 4:09 pm
Darden has been the biggest disappointment so far. Right now the game looks to big for him. As a returner he’s already put the ball on the ground, and hasn’t done anything special. If the season started tomorrow Mickens would be my return guy. So where does that leave Darden? He’s been out played as a receiver, and returner. He really needs a year on the P.S.. If we lose him, so be it. As of now he’ hasn’t earned that roster spot.
August 25th, 2021 at 6:54 pm
I agree Even though I am a Gator alum I am not a homer when it comes to the Bucs drafting our players. Trask will be Just Fine. Remember the kid hadn’t started a game since his freshman year of HS when Franks went down and Trask had his number called.
All he did was throw 69 TDs to 15 INTs and Take UF to victories!
Kid knows how to ride the pine for a bit and learn from the G.O.A.T.
August 25th, 2021 at 6:56 pm
I’m kinda with you there Hodad.
Kid came in and there was all this “Tom Brady approved” stuff going around.
Not impressed so far
August 25th, 2021 at 7:43 pm
The thing I keep telling myself with Darden is that they have a package of what he excels at and they haven’t really shown it yet.
He did catch an out route of 5 yds that had me the most excited and I can see how Brady likes it way better than Watson.
It was a nice juke and he was wide open.
I think a long developing route will be good for him with all that shiftiness.
WRs don’t typically light it up in year 1 like RBs can.
And I’m curious about Hainsey’s so called injury history too.
Please post proof of your statement. He will be a stud IMO.
August 25th, 2021 at 8:29 pm
Trask is a development guy, nothing to be worried about at this point. My biggest concern was his arm, because his college tape is so many rainbow and lofted passes that are INTs at the NFL level – but he has shown he can put zip on the ball. He has to work on his accuracy when applying zip, because it’s not all that great currently — and he has to be more consistent with zip, because under pressure on Saturday he went back to his soft/slow passes that will be INTs when future FedEx drivers aren’t on the field. But that can be coached out of him in time, but it will probably be a couple of years.
Also, I heard this brought up and it’s a good point, he’s not getting a ton of practice right now. He’s fourth on the depth chart and just not getting a ton of snaps. The first practice against the Titans, apparently he didn’t get a single snap, and only limited snaps on day 2. So they’re really bringing him along slowly, so just don’t expect much for now.
August 25th, 2021 at 9:49 pm
Bucs fell in love with Chris Wilcox’s size (6-2, 195) and speed (he ran a 4.31-second 40-yard dash at BYU’s Pro Day) he could make an instant impact on special teams. He was on the PUP list til Aug 2. Hopefully we hear some positive news on him soon.
August 26th, 2021 at 2:02 am
I haven’t seen anything from Trask that makes me think he will ever be bonafide starting QB in this league. He really lacks the physical tools–there’s a reason this kid was a 2-star prospect after all. He will have to develop Brady’s football IQ and instincts to ever compensate for his physical deficiencies.
August 26th, 2021 at 11:11 am
Izod. They said the same thing about Brady and Montana ! Plus Trask had better numbers than Lawrence and he played in the SEC. Remember 43 touchdowns and 8 picks but I get it if the media would have promoted him like they did Mac Jones then yall would be all in . I know Ira and the pewter report have set a campaign against Trask so that’s why yall talking negative about Trask. Trask haven’t been playing with any players that’s going to be on the roster and yall judging him base on that ?? Lol 😆 I don’t care, if they don’t develop Trask then the bucs is where young quarterbacks careers come in die .