Pitt rookies providing hope for Buccaneers in Year 1 after Tom Brady
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Last year, the Steelers went through Year 1 ABB (after Big Ben). This year, their first opponent is going through Year 1 ATB (after Tom Brady).
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers welcome the Steelers for a preseason-opening matchup Friday night. Former Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield will get the team’s first start in their post-Brady reality.
Kyle Trask is going to get the start in Game 2 versus the New York Jets.
Whereas the Steelers at least had a clear-cut fan favorite in Pitt’s Kenny Pickett during last summer’s competition to replace Ben Roethlisberger, even that aspect of adjustment to life after a legendary QB is a bit muddled in Tampa.
Despite Trask’s roots as a Florida Gator product, Jay Recher of WDAE radio in Tampa Bay told the “Breakfast With Benz” podcast that the fanbase is still trying to figure out which horse to back.
“There is no consistent thread right now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan base,” Recher said Thursday. “It’s 25% (that) they want to see Trask do well. There are 25% that want to see Baker Mayfield do well. There’s 25% that don’t know what the heck they want. There’s 25% that say, ‘Hey, let’s just tank, and we’ll try to get Caleb Williams (QB/USC) or Drake Maye (QB/UNC) next year.’”
So far, though, in Recher’s opinion, Trask has generally been sharper during practices.
“Kyle Trask has played pretty darn well in training camp,” Recher insisted. “I’ve been there every single day, and Baker Mayfield has thrown, I want to say, eight or nine interceptions to only about three or four from Kyle Trask. There’s a discernible difference in how these guys take care of the football.”
Recher added that it’s not a matter of Trask being too conservative.
“Some people will say, ‘Oh, well, Baker’s really trying to push the ball down the field.’ Well, Kyle Trask is pushing the ball down the field as well,” Recher continued. “We’ve also seen a couple of dropped snaps from Baker Mayfield. It hasn’t been the cleanest preseason, and I wonder if he wasn’t the guy with the experience advantage if he really would be the guy that is starting in the first preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
Meanwhile, two players who have been generating buzz during offseason workouts for the Bucs have been Pitt alumni Calijah Kancey (DL) and SirVocea Dennis (LB). Both are rookies on the defensive side of the ball. Kancey likely won’t play due to a calf injury, but he had opened eyes prior to that.
And Recher is gushing about Dennis, going so far as to say the former Panther “is going to be a starter no matter what” in 2024.
“He’s been fantastic,” Recher said. “He’s probably not going to start (Friday night). But (Pro Bowl linebacker) Lavonte David sat out (Wednesday) because of a veterans day (off). So SirVocea actually was with the (first team). So he’ll rotate in there… He’s had two picks in camp. He’s got the maturity level. He could be an absolute steal of this draft.”
Head coach Todd Bowles has high praise for Dennis as well.
“We’ve seen a lot from him. A continuation of what he’s done: getting his run reads down, he’s a very good pass dropper, he’s a very good blitzer,” Bowles told the Tampa Bay media Tuesday. “Just getting the special teams down and (being) ready to play. I want to see him and KJ (Britt) work together Friday night. That’ll be a good (linebacker) tandem for us to see.”
For his part, Dennis says he is finding himself comfortable in Bowles’ defensive system, particularly when he had been on the field with Kancey prior to the injury.
“Coach Bowles runs some things similar to (Pitt coach Pat) Narduzzi,” Dennis said Tuesday. “So, when we see a play that’s similar to Narduzzi, we just look at each other in the room and go (head nod). It’s been great with (Kancey). He was my roommate in the (Bucs) hotel, and we were just bouncing ideas off each other, running plays with each other, (and) doing everything we can. With him being a familiar face, it’s like some weight is lifted off my shoulders.”
Also, in the podcast, we discuss Tampa Bay’s changes along the offensive line that may be points of experimentation against the Steelers, more of the offensive questions that exist after Brady’s departure and even some Rays baseball and Lightning hockey.