Report: Tampa Bay doing homework on quarterback prospect
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have already secured a return from every quarterback that was on the roster in 2021; Tom Brady, Blaine Gabbert, Kyle Trask, and Ryan Griffin. Would it make sense for the franchise to begin doing due diligence on a fifth signal-caller?
According to a report from Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork, the Buccaneers plan to work out former South Dakota State quarterback Chris Oladokun on Thursday. He has previously gone through visits with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears and had a workout with the Arizona Cardinals.
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A Tampa native, Oladokun began his career locally at USF in 2016. After struggling to garner consistent playing time during his three years on campus, he chose to look for a new opportunity in 2019 and landed at FCS Samford. He took on a larger role with the Bulldogs upon his transfer, appearing in all 12 games and starting nine of them. Oladokun completed 62.1% of his passes for 2,064 yards and 18 touchdowns to seven interceptions. He added 127 rushes for 493 yards and eight more scores.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced Samford to cancel its 2020 season. The program returned to play in the spring of 2021 when Oladokun began to see his involvement in the offense dwindle. For the second time in his career, he elected to search for a new destination and he joined South Dakota State as a graduate transfer in May of 2021.
Oladokun hit the ground running and had instant success for a Jackrabbits squad that made deep postseason runs over the last few years. He earned the starting job and never looked back, pushing South Dakota State to an 11-4 record and to the FCS semifinals before a loss to Montana State.
All in all, he completed 61.9% of his throws for a whopping 3164 yards with 25 touchdowns to seven interceptions. He also ran for 166 yards and two more scores on the ground.
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While Oladokun is a projected day three prospect or undrafted free agent, he has interesting potential as a dual-threat signal-caller. The Buccaneers have the luxury to rely on star Tom Brady in 2022, but that won't be the case forever, hence the selection of Kyle Trask in the second round last year.
At some point, Tampa Bay has to begin positioning itself for the future while preparing to compete in the present. Bringing in a high upside prospect such as Oladokun to tap into his skillet is just the way to do that. Like with Trask, it would be nothing but beneficial for a young quarterback to sit behind the likes of Brady.
As of now, the franchise has just two selections on day three of the draft, and both fall in the seventh round. Those picks will be No. 248 and No. 261 overall. It's possible that Oladokun is still waiting in the wings towards the tail end of the draft. It's also possible that one of the teams that have been doing their homework on him scoops him up earlier than that.
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