Buccaneers OC reveals why QB situation remains unsettled

New Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Dave Canales explained the team’s thought process in choosing a starting quarterback for next season and why the prized position is still up for grabs.

“It’s a win-win when you create a competition. If you name a starter today, the backup guy starts thinking like a backup,” Canales told reporters on Wednesday.

The former Seattle QB coach knows a thing or two about orchestrating healthy competition. Canales headed the battle between Seahawks QBs Geno Smith and Drew Lock last preseason, which resulted in a winning record, playoff birth and Smith’s Comeback Player of the Year award.

“It was a true competition. [Smith] hadn’t played in a long time. [Lock] had some pretty bad experiences in recent times. What I end up getting out of Drew and Geno is two guys who had to mentally put themselves in a place where, ‘I could be, I’m going to be the starter this year.’ They trained that way all the way through the last game in the preseason. Game one, I got a starter in Geno, and I got a backup who’s been thinking he’s a starter for six months.”

Canales related this to the Buccaneers’ current situation between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask and believes he can replicate similar success.

Mayfield, a former Heisman winner and No. 1 pick, has a lot more on-field experience than Trask and displayed promising efforts — most notably his game-winning drive for the Los Angeles Rams last season.

But inconsistency is the reason he’s bounced around four teams in recent years.

Trask put together an impressive college career at the University of Florida but has only made one regular-season NFL appearance and three completions since. His untapped potential and two years’ worth of GOAT mentorship are what makes him interesting.

Starter or not, Canales promised he’ll “coach the crap out of” both guys and have them ready to go.