Brad Johnson II
May 1st, 2021
Reincarnated.
This struck Joe as, well, different.
After the second day of the draft concluded last night, Bucs Super Bowl-winning coach Bucco Bruce Arians held court with the local fourth estate. While peppered about new quarterback Kyle Trask, Arians drew a comparison to Bucs Super Bowl-winning quarterback Brad Johnson.
Arians doesn’t care if Trask isn’t very mobile. Arians said with conviction he doesn’t draft quarterbacks to run. He drafts quarterbacks to throw.
So Joe found this interesting for one big reason. One of the most crushing losses in Gators history came in a thick night fog in Gainseville last season against LSU, known as “The Shoe Game.”
LSU pulled off a major upset, pretty much killing Florida’s national championship dreams. The winning quarterback for LSU was freshman Max Johnson, Brad Johnson’s son.
The losing quarterback? Kyle Trask for the Gators. Yet Arians said Friday night (not referencing “The Shoe Game” in any way), that Trask reminds him of Brad Johnson.
Joe just found that interesting.
Also very interesting, Arians said there were internal discussions at One Buc Palace about drafting Trask in the first round at pick No. 32.
May 1st, 2021 at 1:10 am
I hope he develops well under Brady and Griffin’s leadership but I have this funny feeling that as time goes on Feleipe Franks will have a better NFL career.
May 1st, 2021 at 1:12 am
I bet our first pick tomorrow will be a DB ..preferably another safety
May 1st, 2021 at 1:17 am
I’d rather have him than Mac Jones.
May 1st, 2021 at 1:25 am
Believe it when I see it from this guy. Didn’t like the pick but he’s a Buc with a clean plate. It’s starting to grow now that they could turn this kid into a starter or at least have a good backup for a while going into the future. They’ve not given the green light on this guy to start IF Brady ever wants to end it.
May 1st, 2021 at 1:36 am
Two QBs have won SB’s in Tampa, Brady and Brad Johnson.
If he’s Brad Johnson, I’ll take it. Brad Johnson played for a long time and was very successful for a reason – and there was a reason that prior to Brady that, Johnson was always talked about when it came to best QB in the history of the team.
I mean best QBs in team history…
1. Brady
2. Winston
3. Brad Johnson
4. Jeff Garcia
5. Doug Williams
6. Josh Freeman
7. Vinny Testaverde
8. Trent Dilfer
9. Brian Griese
10. Craig Erickson
Wow, I’ve never tried to make a list of top 10 QBs for the Bucs before – that was a lot harder than I thought it would be.
If Trask has any type of career in Tampa, he’s going to break that top 10 list.
May 1st, 2021 at 1:46 am
Brad Johnson had a very strong arm, Flask not as much but could still get better with more time.
May 1st, 2021 at 1:52 am
You forgot about Steve Young
May 1st, 2021 at 1:53 am
I thought Young was a Buc am I wrong
May 1st, 2021 at 1:55 am
He’s number 1 obviously
May 1st, 2021 at 1:55 am
Sorry 2 after Brady
May 1st, 2021 at 1:56 am
Actually he’s 4 after Brad super bowl winner n Doig
May 1st, 2021 at 1:56 am
Doug
May 1st, 2021 at 2:01 am
I am good with the draft thus far. I give the scouting dept., coaching staff and GM of the World Champs the benefit of the doubt. I trust this group to know what they are doing.
May 1st, 2021 at 2:22 am
OK, I went and watched the Trask highlights vs LSU… and I hate the tape. 90% of the throws are soft touch passes that would never be complete in the NFL, there’s no zip on the ball at all. To make sure I’m not just making things up in my head, I immediately went and watched the Brady highlights from 2020 and he’s throwing the ball with zip and driving it.
But, in fairness to Trask, the touch passes were working, so why would he drive the ball if he didn’t need to. But, I’ve seen touch passers over and over again in college who have no career in the NFL, because you can’t do that crap in the pros.
So then I went and watched Trask’s pro-day, and I must say I feel much better about him after that. While he still doesn’t drive the ball the way I’d like to see, he DID drive the ball on some throws. So he does have the arm, probably only an average NFL at best, but I’m fine with that. The issue is, he only drives the ball some of the time, but that can be coached I think – it’s not a lack of talent, I don’t believe. The question to me would be if he can throw the ball accurately while driving it, and I only saw a couple of passes in his pro-day that meet that qualification.
Also for all the talk about him being immobile, in his pro-day he looked as mobile as in the pocket as Winston – he’s not Mike Glennon immobile, and certainly not Tom Brady immobile. I think the fact he’s not a scrambling QB has people saying he’s a stiff, but he looked like he can move around and rollout at an NFL level, and get you an occasional 10-20 yards if the defense is playing with their back turned and don’t expect it.
Overall, after watching the pro-day, I think I see what the Bucs see. Just teach him to throw with more velocity and you got a legit NFL high-end QB prospect, not starter or anything right now, but worthy of the last pick in the 2nd round.
May 1st, 2021 at 2:27 am
Guzzie – No, I didn’t forget Young, I’m just judging them based off their times with the Bucs. If we’re talking about entire careers, then sure, Young is easily #2. But with the Bucs, Young was terrible — not his fault, the team sucked, but he was awful.
Young in Tampa
Record 3-16, 53.3% comp, 3217 yards, 11 TDs, 21 INTs , 63.1 QB rating
To put it in perspective, those numbers are WAY worse than Bruce Gradkowski.
I don’t know if Young was trying to tank his way out of Tampa, or if that team was truly that talentless.
May 1st, 2021 at 3:02 am
nice assessment rod munch
but in layman’s terms he has “small arm syndrome”
May 1st, 2021 at 3:06 am
Rod, it was truly that talentless.
May 1st, 2021 at 3:38 am
i watched his pro day and i like him even less now…
do you draft a career back up?… because that’s what he is…
maybe the bucs figured moving forward they are going to keep plucking top qbs at the ends of their careers as their starter…
and in the process have trask as a career back up for 10 years to them???…
heck, they’ve kept grif around forever…
maybe they found their career back up moving forward and grif and gabbert move on in a year…
i don’t get this pick…but okay…hopefully i’m completely wrong and dude is a studdddd
May 1st, 2021 at 4:17 am
adam from ny – I definitely disagree on liking him less after seeing the pro-day, although maybe we were starting in different places. I was starting thinking he was like 4th rounder, but moved up to last pick of the 2nd. If he was just more consistent on throwing passes with speed and zip, he’d have been a first rounder. And based off that pro-day, I think the Bucs believe they can get him to do that. I think I see what they see, and listening to Arians talking about more, he’s saying the coaches told him from practice and pro-day he can make every throw. I don’t know why they’d be lying about it – so I assume they’re telling the truth.
May 1st, 2021 at 5:41 am
I’m going to laugh my arse off at guy’s like Rod Munch and Adam and others that are already saying he lacks arm strength to be an NFL QB and only has a chance if they can teach him to throw with more velocity.
You clearly haven’t seen many of Trask’s games in his short college career. He’s only gotten better and better the more he plays. His arm strength is more than adequate for the NFL. His accuracy is off the charts and that’s far more important than throwing like Jeff George.
May 1st, 2021 at 5:55 am
Rod … Good analysis but IMO no one knows at this point what he MIGHT develop into at the NFL level. He’ll learn fast enough that QBs can get away with a LOT of stuff in college that simply doesn’t fly at the NFL level. I have a feeling that BA, Brady & Christensen will make sure of that.
I wasn’t particularly impressed with him at UF, but will admit that 69 TDs against 15 INTs impresses me. His size (6’5″ & 239 lbs) impresses me too. More importantly, those obviously impressed BA & JL.
May 1st, 2021 at 7:21 am
Our next Qb will be a free agent signee.Trask is the next Ryan Griffin
May 1st, 2021 at 7:26 am
In a QB, brains and rapid processing > strong arm.
I trust BA & Co. in QB analysis.
May 1st, 2021 at 7:36 am
I don’t view the ‘immobile’ thing as a problem…. Running QB’s rarely are effective by the time they reach 30. It’s a crutch they lean on, which hinders their development
May 1st, 2021 at 7:43 am
Rod Munch, you forgot Shawn King.
May 1st, 2021 at 7:51 am
If Brady accepts him, he will receive an education that tops all. I like the move, no harm no foul. If he does he maybe what the Bucs need as they move on from Brady. Let’s not forget Tommy boy was drafted 199. If history repeats itself some of these 1round QB’s are not going to work out. Maybe if Bucs are lucky they got a diamond in the rough.
May 1st, 2021 at 8:18 am
Munch…to me the measure of a quality of a QB, especially on a good team, is victories and reaching the playoffs. So that means Jameis can’t be better than about number seven.
May 1st, 2021 at 8:22 am
Even Fitzpatrick was, arguably, as good a QB as Jameis. Sure, Jameis was more talented. But the results weren’t much better. And that doesn’t even consider the missed starts.
May 1st, 2021 at 8:28 am
This pick reminds me of a certain second round reach for a Kicker. Too clever by half, imo. Really not impressed with the value of a second round QB who probably won’t see the field until his 3rd or 4th yr at least. They just beat up on a team that had its front line decimated in the SB so I had hoped they’d be wise to keep stocking up on Tom Brady protection. Definitely would have preferred more tackle depth here.
May 1st, 2021 at 8:31 am
I thought the same thing, Brad Johnson, falling asleep last night. The offense is chock full of talent a wise game manager is all we really need.
Even though the rest of the league and the future of the NFL is heading towards whizz bang pin ball wizard QB’s
May 1st, 2021 at 8:33 am
I trust this was the right pick. He’s a Buc so, I’m a fan.
Not crazy about Trask but we were all goo-goo over Winston and look how that turned out!
May 1st, 2021 at 8:39 am
Not sure what people are looking for. The Bucs needed a QB and he was the best available by the time they picked. If you want a better guy, you have to lose quite a few more games. We tried that for over a decade and I like picking at the end of the round better.
May 1st, 2021 at 9:17 am
Re: the comment about how awful Steve Young was when he was a Buc. It wasn’t his fault. The Bucs were more than awful back then. They were setting loser records, some which still exist. Those were painful times for a fan.
May 1st, 2021 at 9:20 am
You guys need to find the YouTube highlights for Trasks season last year if you’re worried about his arm. Sure they’re just the highlights, but it contains plenty of examples of 20-yard deep out dimes for TDs, back shoulder placement, 40 yard bombs to Toney, Pitts and Grimes hitting them in stride, and even a couple off balance lasers that still got completed for chunk plays.
He threw 70% in the SEC and put up 46(!) against Alabama and all their future pros on defense. If he was perfect, he’d have been a top 15 pick, but sure he needs to improve some things, and I don’t argue with it at the end of 2nd round with the tape and production he’s put together. Had they picked him in the 1st this would be a different conversation.
May 1st, 2021 at 9:24 am
Steve DeBerg belongs in the top 10.
May 1st, 2021 at 11:17 am
Brad Johnson was a noodle arm check-downer. If you’re drafting THAT with a second round pick, well I just don’t get it.
May 1st, 2021 at 11:18 am
Won a lot of games. Played in the playoffs often. And yeah, won a Super Bowl for the Bucs.
If that is the result of a No. 64 pick, that’s a home run.
May 1st, 2021 at 11:18 am
As a Bama fan, all I know is Trask was the only QB to lead his team to putting me on the edge of my seat last year!! Put quite a scare against a Tide team that pretty much crushed everyone else by half time.
May 1st, 2021 at 11:19 am
he is gonna be just fine….with the right tutelage
May 1st, 2021 at 11:42 am
If we are getting Brad Johnson in those 2-3 years of his prime I’ll take it. Second best bucs qb after Brady and good enough with lots of talent around him
May 1st, 2021 at 1:16 pm
For Trask being the last pick in the 2nd round you really shouldn’t complain. Every single kid from the draft will need polish to make it in the NFL. Every rookie makes mistakes just ask any player in the NFL they have to polish their skills and learn their assignments properly. To judge a player is easy from a first guess. Take Lawrence for example, I said he would be a bust and get creamed in the NFL but more than likely he will do alright. Give these kids a chance before we dismantle their confidence.