Throughout his coaching career, Bruce Arians has been known to provide colorful, if not outlandish, offseason trope quotes that fill the void in the spring and summer months.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Super Bowl-winning coach provided his latest eyebrow-raising comment when he compared second-round rookie Kyle Trask to Andrew Luck, who Arians worked with as a rookie in Indianapolis. Arians said that while Trask doesn't have Luck's physical gifts, the mental acumen is there.
"Mentally-wise, he's not far behind what Andrew did in the same offense, and what Andrew did that (rookie) year (2012) is unbelievable," Arians said of Trask, via the Tampa Bay Times. "I'm not saying he's Andrew Luck, but mentally he's still really sharp."
It's about as high of praise as the coach could give for a rookie expected to learn behind Tom Brady for at least the next several seasons.
The modern world is constantly a prisoner of the moment. Luck entered the NFL as one of the most pro-ready QBs in history, both above and below the shoulders. He led the Colts to an 11-5 record, the most wins for a rookie QB, and set the single-season rookie passing record (4,374).
Still, if Arians believes Trask is mentally on-par with the likes of Luck, that's an excellent sign for the future in Tampa.
"It's not easy when you're going against our defense," Arians said of what he's seen from Trask during OTAs. "He is seeing a multitude of blitzes and coverages, so I'm really impressed. Having worked with guys for the first time in this offense, he's at the top of the list as far as the learning curve, and he's throwing the football really well."
If Trask learns well from Brady and lives up to Arians' assessment, the Bucs might have already found their eventual successor.
