Going into the 2022 offseason, the Cowboys knew that they needed to bolster their defensive line. Early reports rumored that Dallas had interest in adding a former rival in Jason Pierre-Paul, who spent eight years as a Giant before going to Tampa Bay.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that the Cowboys’ interest in Pierre-Paul seems to be waning, as Dallas believes they have “at least six capable edge rushers.” In the offseason, they added Dante Fowler through free agency and drafted Sam Williams out of Ole Miss last month. They’ll find themselves in the pass rushing rotation with the likes of Dorance Armstrong, Tarell Basham, DeMarcus Lawrence, and Chauncey Golston.
Here are a few other rumors from around the NFC, starting with a few more rumors from Jeremy Fowler’s article:
- Atlanta selected Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder in the third round, over every quarterback in the Draft, besides Kenny Pickett who was the only passer off the board at that point. Fowler reports that Ridder’s biggest competition for the pick was Liberty’s Malik Willis, but the Falcons felt that Willis lacked the signature moments at Liberty, even though he had incredible talent. Ridder, on the other hand, had a more complete body of work, in their opinion. It didn’t hurt that Ridder reportedly came to interviews with a plan on how to unseat a veteran starting quarterback wherever he landed.
- Another team that was long rumored to be looking at quarterbacks in the Draft, New Orleans instead drafted wide receiver Chris Olave with their first round pick. According to Fowler, the Saints had no plans to draft a quarterback. They had Olave in their sights and, upon seeing Drake London and Garrett Wilson come off the board at Nos. 8 and 10 overall, they knew they needed to make a move to ensure Olave would be available. New Orleans apparently did an outstanding job of keeping their plans a complete mystery to the rest of the NFL.
- With Tom Brady coming out of retirement to quarterback the Buccaneers, Tampa Bay has been evaluating their backup quarterback position. According to Greg Auman of The Athletic, Buccaneers quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen doesn’t see Kyle Trask competing with Blaine Gabbert for the backup job. This shouldn’t put Trask’s roster spot in jeopardy, though. Gabbert is one of the better backup quarterbacks in the league, but the plan for Trask was always for a post-Brady team. Tampa Bay is happy with Trask’s progress so far and will likely keep developing the 24-year-old for the future.
Kinda nervous for Trask .. like how can you be the future if it’s yr2 and your (A) not 2nd on the depth chart or (B) not expected to beat out Blaine Gabbert For said spot ?? Would Tampa waste a roster spot for Trask , when Tom rarely misses games ?
I doubt that Trask is getting quality reps, and as long as Brady is there (at age 45), the Bucs are playing year to year in their competitive window. I doubt that Trask gets much time with the starters and certainly doesn’t see much game action. The upside for Tampa is that Trask does have a history of being ready when called, despite not having experience in that role. He has a good arm and good size, and is obviously mentally tough and even-keeled. None of those things guarantee success, but they are good extras to have when competing in a harsh environment.
Chances are high that Brady’s departure will signal the end of a lot of Tampa’s championship rentals, and they will likely field a lower level roster than these past two years. Having a mentally tough starter will be key, so I don’t think that Trask is completely hopeless just yet.
Trask has one of the better arms in college when he played he also makes good reads his big issue was footwork and moving in pocket.
I’m pretty sure Trask was a backup QB almost his entire high school career.. I could be wrong, but I vaguely remember him being slotted behind some guy named D’Eriq King on his high school depth chart…lol
Which, I’m sure at the high school level King was probably nearly unstoppable, so I can’t really fault the coach for not starting Trask.
Still though, even as a UGA fan, that’s why I always gave Dan Mullen so much credit as an offensive mind and a QB coach for developing Trask into the QB he became at Florida almost putting them into the College Playoff…Well, he did his job, but they never made it due to one shoe throwing penalty by one of their DBs Marco Wilson maybe!?! Idk, can’t remember..
Having a plan to unseat a veteran shows ambition, but it seems more prudent to have a plan to show that you are a great player before worrying about knocking off a teammate. That sounds like pandering to the interviewer to me to some degree.
I do believe that Ridder was a far better choice than Willis, and that he showed a lot of maturity as a passer. I don’t think that there was much difference he and Pickett in terms of being the top quarterback this year, even as muted as this class has been. How his skills translate to the NFL level remain to be seen, but I think that it would be wiser for him to focus on adjusting to the pros before worrying about kicking Mariota out of a job.