Who is Buccaneers QB Kyle Trask, the possible Tom Brady successor?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a huge void to fill at quarterback this offseason after Tom Brady officially retired Tuesday.

Head coach Bruce Arians and general manager Jason Licht will need to replace arguably the greatest NFL player of all time in one offseason — a no easy task for a team that didn’t make the playoffs for 12 years before Brady’s arrival in 2020.

The Buccaneers could certainly draft someone with the 27th overall pick, or pluck a veteran off the trade block (Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson, anyone?). But perhaps the simplest solution is to promote the quarterback they took with the last pick of the second round this past spring: Kyle Trask.

He already has the endorsement of his former Florida teammate, Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts, and Arians compared Trask's rookie development to that of former Colts quarterback, Andrew Luck, earlier this season.

“Mentally-wise, he’s not far behind what Andrew did in the same offense, and what Andrew did that [rookie] year [in 2012] is unbelievable,” Arians said before the 2021 season, per the Tampa Bay Times. “I’m not saying he’s Andrew Luck, but mentally he’s still really sharp.”

Kyle Trask's collegiate background

Trask, who'll turn 23 by the start of the season, doesn't have any NFL tape except for a few preseason snaps, so it's hard to know for sure where he'll land on the Buccaneers' depth chart by the start of the 2022 season.

At Florida, though, Trask was one of the best quarterbacks in college football. He completed 68.9 percent of his passes as a senior in 2020 with 4,283 yards, 43 passing touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Like Brady, Trask had to wait his turn before taking over the reins in college. After losing his high school starting job to now-2022 prospect D'Eriq King after his freshman season, Trask didn't start at Florida until a 2019 injury to Feleipe Franks forced Trask into the starting lineup.

Trask led the Gators to a second-half comeback win over Kentucky after Franks left the game and he went 8-2 the rest of the season. As the Gators' full-time starter in 2020, Trask opened the season with six consecutive games with at least four passing touchdowns before finishing fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting, behind winner DeVonta Smith as well as first-round quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence and Mac Jones.

Measurables and tendencies

Trask is an ideal pocket quarterback at 6-foot-5 and 236 pounds. As Yahoo Sports' Eric Edholm wrote before the 2021 draft, Trask is "fearless in the pocket," "unfazed by pressure" and great at play-action and ball placement.

The issue with Trask, though, is his statuesque behavior behind the line of scrimmage, which coincidentally is similar to Brady. Trask isn't a scrambler and doesn't offer much running upside unless he's near the goal line. In college, he often stared down receivers, wasn't great in his progressions and didn't offer much pop in his arm strength. He's a talent that needs a stable system with a good coach, a great offensive line and plenty of skill position players around him.

Fit in Tampa Bay

Fortunately for Trask, the Buccaneers have everything he needs to succeed. Arians worked with some of the best quarterbacks in the NFL prior to his arrival in Tampa Bay — including Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning — and his offenses are very quarterback-friendly. The Buccaneers also had the fifth-best offensive line DVOA, per Football Outsiders, with the lowest sack rate in the NFL. And of course, Tampa Bay has a stable of weapons in Mike Evans, Leonard Fournette and Chris Godwin (if they're able to re-sign him). Tight end Rob Gronkowski is still there, too, but is also a retirement candidate with Brady now gone.

The Buccaneers won't need to make a decision on Brady's heir yet. They still have an entire offseason to look at the quarterback landscape and evaluate their options. Heck, No. 2 quarterback Blaine Gabbert could win the job as well.

But if Tampa Bay doesn't explore outside options, Trask could find himself at the helm of one of the best offensive teams in the NFL. He has the make-up to be good, it's just a matter of if he can put everything we learned and saw with Brady into action during his sophomore season.