2021 NFL Draft: Kyle Trask picked by Buccaneers in Round 2, first Florida QB drafted since Tim Tebow

By Adam Silverstein
April 30, 2021
2021 NFL Draft: Kyle Trask picked by Buccaneers in Round 2, first Florida QB drafted since Tim Tebow
Football

Image Credit: UAA / Courtney Culbreath

The 2021 NFL Draft has been an incredible showcase for the Florida Gators football program, and that momentum continued Friday night when quarterback Kyle Trask was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the No. 64 overall pick in the second round of the draft. He is the third Florida player selected in the first two rounds of the draft, a feat last achieved by the team in 2017.

Trask is the first Gators quarterback drafted since Tim Tebow was selected in the first round by the Denver Broncos in 2010. That is an appropriate note on his career considering Trask matched or surpassed many feats Tebow (and Danny Wuerffel) accomplished throughout his Florida career.

He is also the first UF player chosen by Tampa Bay since cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III was a first-round pick in 2016.

The Bucs are an exceptionally soft landing spot for Trask, who will not only have an entrenched fan base but perhaps the best possible mentor for an up-and-coming quarterback in future Hall of Fame signal caller Tom Brady. With Brady expected to play a couple more seasons, Trask will have all the time in the world to learn behind one of the best to ever play the position.

Trask last season put together arguably the greatest campaign by a Gators quarterback in program history. At 6-foot-5 and 236 pounds, he possesses the prototypical size and strength that NFL teams covet from their quarterback, though his lacking speed makes him more of a throwback signal caller as opposed to a modern passer. Despite that, Trask is exceptionally shifty in the pocket; he does an incredible job avoiding pressure, reading defenses and getting the ball out.

After barely playing early in his collegiate career, Trask put on a show over his last season-and-a-half and went toe-to-toe with Alabama’s Mac Jones in the 2020 SEC Championship Game. He was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy and Davey O’Brien Award for good reason after leading the FBS with 43 passing touchdowns last season. Trask has improvements to make with his eyework as he had a propensity for throwing pick sixes, and he is a bit slower than some of his peers in this class, but his accuracy and delivery should take him far in the NFL.

OnlyGators.com will update this breaking news story shortly.

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