TPP suggests last Auburn football QB drafted to NFL as Buccaneers backup

Jarrett Stidham, the last Auburn football quarterback drafted to the NFL and the Raiders’ starter after benching Derek Carr this past season, could be added to the Buccaneers depth chart to replace the retiring QB G.O.A.T. Tom Brady.

Not as a starter, though. Josh Hill, while penning a piece for The Pewter Plank titled ‘3 offseason QB scenarios that set Buccaneers up for future success,’ included Stidham as a potential backup signal-caller signing for Tampa this spring.

According to Hill, Stidham could serve as a fine backup option to incumbent Bucs QB Kyle Trask should the organization look to add a complementary arm in free agency as opposed to a new starter:

"“Starting Trask next year would mean putting a solid support system in place that both allows him to develop but doesn’t hamstring the Bucs if they need to yank him. Someone like Mitchell Trubisky is intriguing, as he almost fits the same mold as Trask as a guy who might bloom late but hasn’t yet made much of an impact as a starter. Gardner Minshew and Jarrett Stidham also fall into this category, and double as guys who wouldn’t signal a tank job if they were named starters but also wouldn’t be too good that the Bucs finish with a record that prevents them from having a high enough draft pick to take a potential franchise guy next year.”"

Hugh Freeze will coach the next Auburn football quarterback drafted to the NFL

Gus Malzahn only sent two quarterbacks to the NFL during his time as both head coach and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach over his two stints with Auburn football. The star quarterback of his head coaching stint, Nick Marshall, declared for the draft as a corner and went undrafted. He’ll likely have a third quarterback in the NFL by the 2024 draft, when Bo Nix will likely declare and be a top prospect.

As for Bryan Harsin, no quarterback he recruited to the Plains is close to the NFL right now. If Robby Ashford, who Harsin added to the Tigers via the transfer portal in January 2022, ends up ready for the pros, it’ll be because Hugh Freeze coached him up from a stunted growth sitting on the Oregon bench for two years and having minimal offensive line help to develop under Harsin.

The next time a quarterback has his name called on draft night, it’ll be someone who ran a Freeze offense.