Kyle Trask had an impressive first season as starter for Florida football but could he have a Joe Burrow-type jump for the Gators in 2020?
Joe Burrow was an absolute magician in 2019. He went from above average quarterback in 2018 in his first year as starter with LSU to Heisman Trophy winner and projected No. 1 overall pick.
Now that Burrow has exhausted his eligibility, it’s time to look at what quarterback could follow that same path and go from above average quarterback to All-American and Heisman Trophy winner — or at least contender.
One name that comes to mind right away is fellow SEC passer Kyle Trask. They have plenty of similarities other than the fact that Burrow was much more mobile in his two years at LSU than Trask was in his first full year as QB1 with Florida. That shouldn’t make too much of a difference here because Burrow was known more for his prolific passing stats.
Will Dan Mullen let Trask air it out 527 times like Ed Orgeron let Burrow do in 2019? Probably not, but there’s no doubt the Gator head coach will feed the hot hand whenever possible.
Now let’s take a look at some similarities.
Size-wise, Burrow and Trask are similar, but the latter has about 15-20 pounds on the former LSU star. He also has an inch on him, but it just goes to prove that he has ideal size for a quarterback at both the college and NFL levels.
Outside of size, Trask may be slightly ahead of where Burrow was as a first-year starter at the collegiate level.
In fact, Burrow passed for 2,894 yards and 16 touchdowns with five interceptions in 2018 while completing 58 percent of his passes. In 2019, Trask had 2,941 yards and 25 touchdowns with seven picks and a 67 percent completion rate. He’s ahead of schedule, but there’s one thing that benefitted Burrow that Trask doesn’t have the luxury of: Joe Brady.
The LSU passing game coordinator helped improve Burrow in every statistical category, but if Trask continues to improve at a high clip, he’ll make a legit jump in 2020.
No, I don’t think Trask is going to win the Heisman Trophy or even be named an All-American, but I do believe he’ll see a massive jump in production and surpass 3,500 passing yards and 30 touchdowns on the season. He can be an NFL quarterback with his size, accurate arm and above average decision making which many people don’t realize.
However, if there’s any quarterback in college football who can go from slightly above average to household name, it’s Trask in 2020.