The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in the middle of a quarterback competition. No seriously, they insist. The team also insists regardless of who wins the quarterback battle they’re comfortable moving forward in that direction. That obviously may change depending on how the upcoming 2023 season plays out.
The 2024 NFL draft is heavy on quarterback talent. Most teams in need of a signal caller will have their eyes focused on projected top pick Caleb Williams. But as Dalton Wasserman from Pro Football Focus points out, there’s a solid second option with a high first-round pick. That player is University of North Carolina’s Drake Maye.
Wasserman explains,
“Tampa Bay needs to find a long-term solution at quarterback; Drake Maye would be a perfect target. His 45 big-time throws were 10 more than anyone else in the FBS. It’s thought that Caleb Williams’ supreme mobility is the difference between him and Maye, but it’s actually Maye who finished with the third-most rushing yards among FBS quarterbacks (899) in 2022. If the Bucs get a chance to land Maye, there’s almost no way they could pass on him.”
Now, in the interest of positivity, Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask could surprise everyone and take the Buccaneers on a playoff run in 2023. If Trask is the one to pull this off, BOOM, you have your young quarterback to build around. But if Mayfield happens to take this team on a playoff run in 2023, you’re still are looking for a young quarterback to build around.
Maye Day In Tampa Bay?
With Maye you have the potential of a long-term solution at quarterback who is already impressing coaches and scouts alike.
“He would (have been) a No. 1 draft choice (in the 2023 draft), in my opinion,” UNC head coach Mack Brown said back in March. “All of (the scouts) are just amazed. They sat there and watched, and we had all 32 teams represented, we had 45 people there.”
Maye already has an impressive college resume winning ACC Player of the Year in 2022. He did so by posting 4,321 yards, 38 touchdowns with seven interceptions and another seven touchdowns and 698 yards rushing the football. Yes, over 5,000 yards of offense and 45 touchdowns.
If the Buccaneers are in fact drafting a quarterback high in the first-round of next year’s draft, Maye might not just be AN option, he might be their BEST option.
Follow, Like and Subscribe to Bucs Report
For more on this and everything Buccaneers check back here hourly at BucsReport.com
