Bruce Arians Is Confident in Blaine Gabbert As Buccaneers' Potential QB1

Could the Tampa Bay Buccaneers already have Tom Brady's successor in-house?

As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to assess their options to replace quarterback Tom Brady following his retirement, head coach Bruce Arians has added some fuel to the fire that is the idea that the Bucs could already have his successor in-house.

Kind of, as the potential successor is set to be a free agent in March and would need to sign a new contract before taking on the role.

Arians, speaking with the Tampa Bay Times, once again praised Buccaneers backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert as someone he believes can take over Tampa's offense in 2022, and succeed.

"People may not like the overall record, but Blaine had eight head coaches and eight coordinators his first eight years [to being his NFL career]," Arians said. "He beat Jacksonville their best year and beat Tennessee their big year for us in Arizona. And he's been in the system now." 

Arians' idea that Gabbert's career got off to a rocky start due to circumstances outside of his control is correct. A former first-round pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars who took over a starting role rather immediately, he had three head coaches in as many years before being traded to the San Francisco 49ers and beginning his career as a backup.

He spent three seasons with the 49ers and, again, had three head coaches in as many years. Gabbert then joined Arians as a backup for the Arizona Cardinals and memorably, as Arians noted, beat his former Jaguars team amid their 2017 AFC Championship run.

Yet, Gabbert couldn't even find continuity in a place where he played some of the best football of his career. He left the Cardinals after one season to join the Tennessee Titans, spent one season in Nashville, then linked up with Arians again in Tampa Bay, where he has spent the last three seasons as the Bucs' No. 2 quarterback, finally remaining in an offensive system for more than one season.

Not to mention, the system in place is filled with playmakers, which gives Arians confidence that Gabbert could step in as the Bucs' starter and find success.

"[Gabbert] has never played with a team this good," said Arians. "He's got all the respect in the locker room that he can have."

Across his four seasons in total in Arians' offense, Gabbert has completed 56 percent of his passes for 1,296 yards, eight touchdowns and six interceptions. 

Viewing Gabbert as a sensible replacement for Brady isn't out of the norm for Arians, as he's done it before. He made similar remarks before Brady's retirement with the idea that Brady could step away from the game in mind and has complimented Gabbert within his backup role aplenty over the last three seasons.

To outsiders, trusting Gabbert to fill in Brady's shoes would seem like the Buccaneers are settling instead of pursuing a proven, starting-caliber passer to continue contending in the playoffs, and rightfully so. Across his 11 seasons in the NFL, Gabbert has yet to prove himself in such a role. 

Considering the Bucs' roster is stacked with talent, settling for a career backup to lead the team comes off as, well, unsettling.

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