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Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account each week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to the Bucs Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the Bucs draft questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: Who do you think is a better fit at QB – Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask? The team has yet to decide who is better. But who is going to fit with the bootleg, outside zone, motion offense Dave Canales is planning on running?

Bucs OC Dave Canales and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: My initial answer is Baker Mayfield. He has some experience in this Rams/Seahawks hybrid offense that Dave Canales is installing with the Bucs. Mayfield has some pretty good mobility to properly execute the rollouts, bootlegs and waggles that Canales’ offense calls for. That’s been the case during his five years in the NFL and it certainly looks like Mayfield has enough speed and agility to do it in the couple of open OTA practices the media has been allowed to watch. Plus, Mayfield has the moxie and experience the Bucs are looking for.

But just because Kyle Trask has been more of a pocket passer and hasn’t really functioned in an offense like this that requires a good deal of mobility doesn’t mean that he can’t do it. Trask said he dropped 5-10 pounds this offseason and that’s on top of about 10 pounds he’s lost since trimming down during his rookie season. Trask came out of Florida weighing 240 pounds and he’s probably closer to 220 pounds right now. Let’s see how he picks up this scheme and functions during training camp and the preseason.

The key to thriving in this offense is being accurate when throwing the ball on the run. Whoever masters that ability this summer and does the best job protecting the football will win the starting quarterback job. I still maintain that Baker Mayfield is the current leader in the QB competition due to his experience, but this battle has just begun.

QUESTION: What a realistic number of wins and/or season performance for Baker Mayfield to be this team’s QB in the future?

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch//PR

ANSWER: Good question, but a tough one to answer. Baker Mayfield could have an outstanding season – something like 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions and over 4,000 yards – but if the team does not play well enough around him, especially on defense, it might not matter. If the Bucs wind up with a losing record in Todd Bowles’ second season as head coach there could be a regime change, and a new head coach might want to draft or sign his own quarterback.

I think if the Bucs win nine games, it has to be viewed as progress for Bowles, especially in a transition year to a new offensive scheme with a new starting quarterback at the start of the post-Tom Brady era in Tampa Bay. Whether or not the Bucs win the division, winning nine games or more should ensure Bowles sticks around for another season – unless Tampa Bay races out to something like a 7-2 start and then finishes the season 2-6 down the stretch and really loses momentum.

If Baker Mayfield wins the starting job and leads the team to nine wins or more, I think he’s re-signed unless he really struggles with turnovers. The best statistic quarterbacks are associated with is wins. The more victories Mayfield can pile up, the longer he’ll stay in Tampa Bay.

QUESTION: Do you think Leonard Fournette regrets his request to be released? There doesn’t appear to be any interest in the 28-year old running back who lacked explosiveness last year.

Former Bucs RB Leonard Fournette – Photo by: USA Today

ANSWER: Leonard Fournette may have requested his release, but that was just to save face publicly because he knew he was going to be cut by the Bucs due to his ineffectiveness and for salary cap reasons. It’s kind of like the employee who knows he’s going to be fired but beats the employer to the punch and says, “I quit!” first.

Nobody in the right mind would believe that Fournette – or any NFL running back – would want to walk away from making $7 million per year. Running backs are underpaid as it is, and with Fournette in the twilight of his career, the only reason why he would want to leave Tampa Bay is for more money elsewhere. And Fournette not getting any action in free agency and the fact that he’s still unsigned is proof that the Bucs did the right thing.

Fournette doesn’t regret his request to be released because he didn’t have a choice. He knew the Bucs were going to cut him. Fournette will likely have to wait until a running back gets hurt in training camp or the preseason to have a chance to latch on elsewhere on a cheap, one-year deal.

QUESTION: Can a defensive-minded head coach be successful without a franchise QB nowadays? Even a great coach like Bill Belichick struggles without Tom Brady. I see a tough season incoming.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

ANSWER: I think any team without a franchise quarterback will struggle in the modern day NFL – regardless of who the head coach is. The quarterback position is that important in today’s game. Out of the 32 current head coaches in the league, only 11 are defensive-minded head coaches.

Houston’s DeMeco Ryans and Arizona’s Jonathan Gannon are new hires, and join the likes of New England’s Bill Belichick, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, Seattle’s Pete Carroll, Los Angeles’ Brandon Staley, New York’s Robert Saleh, Tennessee’s Mike Vrabel, Washington’s Ron Rivera, New Orleans’ Dennis Allen, and of course Tampa Bay’s Todd Bowles. Belichick, Tomlin and Carroll have all won Super Bowls – albeit with great quarterbacks.

The challenge with having a defensive-minded head coach is that the NFL prefers hiring young, offensive-minded coaches. So let’s say Dave Canales’ offense really takes off, and in two years he’s hired to be a head coach elsewhere. Now the onus is on Bowles to find another really good offensive coordinator.

Offensive-minded head coaches who call their own plays don’t have to worry about that, and quarterback/play-caller continuity has a greater chance of succeeding over the long haul as a result. Look no further than the days of Sean Payton and Drew Brees in New Orleans, for example.