(Photo by Alex de la Osa/Collegiate Images/Getty Images)
ESPN analyst Booger McFarland on “Get Up” on Tuesday morning said the Steelers should not draft a quarterback in the first round with 39-year-old Ben Roethlisberger returning for another season, but it wouldn't be a bad decision to select Flordia quarterback Kyle Trask in the second round.
“Yeah I think at some point they’re going to think quarterback,” McFarland said via Nick Kosko of 247Sports. “I don't think you bring back Ben Roethlisberger back to think quarterback in the first round. I think you can get a guy like Kyle Trask (in the second round) who I think fits perfectly in Pittsburgh, he would also fit perfectly in Tampa. Big strong kid, strong arm, can throw the football all over the field and he's a very accurate passer. He just fits from a 6-5, 230 pounds standpoint. He fits and looks like Big Ben. So that’s a quarterback you can maybe get in the second round."
McFarland mentioned that he thinks the Steelers are "OK" at the quarterback position, as he thinks Dwayne Haskins will flourish with being in the Steelers culture and coached by Mike Tomlin, but Trask wouldn't be a bad option in the second round to sit for a year and learn from Roethlisberger.
According to Nick Farabaugh of Steelers Now, Florida quarterback Kyle Trask said he spoke with the Steelers a month or two ago. Trask said he talked with Tomlin and some other staff members and said they had a "really good talk."
Trask is a developmental quarterback and would need some coaching at the next level. He's a big quarterback at 6-foot-5, 240 pounds with a strong arm, but he lacks mobility and doesn't move well in the pocket. Similar to Mason Rudolph. Trask completed 67.9 percent of his passes in his career at Florida for 7,386 yards and had a touchdown-interception ratio of 69-15, along with a quarterback rating of 168.5.
Trask struggled in the bowl game against Oklahoma this past year, completing 16-of-28 passes for 158 yards (57.1%) and had a touchdown-interception ratio of 0-3, along with a quarterback rating of 83.1, which was by far his worst rating of the year. He had a quarterback rating of at least 151.9 or more in every other game in 2020.
Below are the scouting reports on both Trask by The Draft Network.
"Trask is a stoutly-built QB prospect that’s a prime example of perseverance and patience. Not becoming a full-time starter until his redshirt junior season, he had to show maximum amounts of patience prior to getting his chance under center. Going on to have a prolific career, he became a supreme leader for the Gators. A decisive and quick operator, he’s a highly intelligent thrower that often attacks with a plan. He has thorough knowledge and smarts to attack all three levels of the field, as he’s experienced reads in many different manners. A “grip it and rip it” thrower of quick game concepts on the perimeter, he’s at his best when on schedule and able to take advantage of leverage throws. Trask’s biggest challenges come the further down the field and when forced to play outside of the normal structure of the offense. A slew-footed operator, he doesn’t have the athleticism necessary to consistently make off-script plays. An often-used option on designed QB runs, his big frame is an asset on runs during short conversion situations. Trask’s lower half may need to be reconstructed as it is the root of why most of his passes die in the deeper portions of the field. Similar to his surroundings in college, in order to reach/see his full potential, he will need to have an adequate play-caller, protection, and playmakers around him."