Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask throw several off-target passes in Bucs OTAs battling to replace Brady

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in the early stages of a quarterback battle and both Kyle Trask and Baker Mayfield are splitting reps equally according to head coach Todd Bowles – however the day started with several off target throws from both QBs.

Video surfaced on social media of a couple of misfires from the pair, who are battling it out to become the team’s starter after the retirement of the legendary Tom Brady earlier this year. 

Several of the passes thrown by both quarterbacks landed widely off the mark or even required the pass catcher to lay out and diving for the ball. 

Bowles told reporters on Tuesday that both QBs have had an equal share of first team reps and that the competition is ‘constant analysis from now up until we name a starter.’

‘It’s a little different because you don’t hit the quarterback in obviously OTAs, nor do you hit them in minicamp, or even training camp until they play games,’ said Bowles.

Bucs coach Todd Bowles said the QB competition is ‘constant analysis’ until naming a starter

Baker Mayfield signed with Tampa this offseason after playing with Carolina and LA last year

Baker Mayfield signed with Tampa this offseason after playing with Carolina and LA last year 

Former second-round pick Kyle Trask is also set to compete for the starting job this summer

Former second-round pick Kyle Trask is also set to compete for the starting job this summer

Bowles words seemed to echo the ones recently spoken by Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales who stated the team’s plan is to ‘wait as long as possible,’ before naming a starter.

‘So you really don’t know who’s what under pressure. From an analyzing standpoint it’s the grasp of the offense, it’s the reading of the defense, it’s not necessarily making the big play but the right play. ‘

‘And then it comes down to Moxey… in-game intelligence, adjustments, and film work… It’s just constant analyzation whether it’s small or whether it’s big, it’s constant analysis from now up until we name a starter.’

Canales also noted that his experience with last with last year’s QB battle in Seattle that saw Geno Smith and Drew Lock spend the summer and preseason competing to earn the starting job.

‘Philosophically, for me, coming from Seattle, best guy gets the job. … For me, it’s a win-win when you create a competition,’ Canales said, while also stating he feels that the quarterbacks preparing as if they are the starter for six months makes the entire team better in the long term. 

Both QBs also come into the competition with very different levels of experience, which is one of the reasons Canales hopes to stretch the competition out as much as possible.

Those differing levels of experience combined with Bowles mentioning a personality may lead fans to infer that Mayfield is currently the favorite to win the job and be named as Tom Brady’s replacement.  Brady recently said he would ‘love nothing more’ than to return to the NFL – but it’s ‘close to impossible’ for him to unretire again.

Mayfield has started a total of 69 games through his five seasons in the league between his time with the Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams.

Mayfield and Trask are battling to replace Tom Brady as Tampa's starting quarterback

Mayfield and Trask are battling to replace Tom Brady as Tampa’s starting quarterback

Bucs OC Dave Canales announced that the team is in no rush to announce a starting QB

 Bucs OC Dave Canales announced that the team is in no rush to announce a starting QB

Seahawks starter Geno Smith

Seattle's backup Drew Lock

Canales over saw the QB battle between Geno Smith and Drew Lock last offseason

Trask on the other hand is entering his third season in the league and has only taken the field once to throw a grand total of nine passes. 

‘Circumstantially, if Kyle would have had more opportunities, you know, I’d love to see what would happen to those,’ Canales said. 

‘So I don’t think we need to rush to make any decisions, is my opinion. Wait as long as you can, as long as possible. Our offense and defense — they don’t need us to name a starter, trust me. We got studs up front on the offensive line, veteran presence.’

‘We got veteran presence at the wide receiver position. We got a really good group of backs, and the defense is fantastic. The way we’re building it, even with the draft, this is not a team, that’s like, ‘We gotta know who the starter is gonna be so that we can move forward and figure out who we’re going to be.’ 

‘I don’t think so. I think the way that we’re going to play it, I’ll have both guys ready to be really, really successful and efficient at what we’re doing.’ 

Canales also went on to give his thoughts on Mayfield:

‘So from Baker, what’s cool about him is he’s got a ton of game experience. So there’s a lot of conversations happening about things that he did and saw or did this in games. 

‘With Kyle, what’s cool is you do see — just talking about being around Tom for two years — you see his tempo and control and his drop mimicking a guy that was the greatest of all time.’

‘It’s like, OK, he has a great starting point if you were going to play behind somebody, who better? And that frame, that 6-foot-5 frame, you know? Honestly, the guys are both plenty smart enough to handle any of our alerts or our checks, getting us to the right types of plays.’

‘So, I’ve seen that. I also see two guys where when I walk into the room in the mornings, they’re already in there. They’re talking, they got their books out, they’re watching a game. So they’re already cohesive in that nature, they just are doing really well together.’ 

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