Bucs Dealing with A Huge Downside With A number of Key Offensive Linemen

The main target proper now for the Bucs is the 2025 NFL Scouting Mix, which is in full swing in Indianapolis, Indiana this week. Tampa Bay has loads of defensive holes to fill, however that doesn’t imply the offense could be an afterthought. Basic supervisor Jason Licht alluded to it on Tuesday, and the information are that the unit has some key free brokers.

Vast receiver Chris Godwin is clearly the largest, however the offensive line is a room that faces a possible looming subject with a number of offensive linemen who might be strolling out the door.

Bucs Have 3 Key Offensive Linemen Coming into Free Company

Bucs LG Ben Bredeson – Picture by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs have most of their beginning offensive line safe going into subsequent season.

Left deal with Tristan Wirfs, heart Graham Barton, proper guard Cody Mauch, and proper deal with Luke Goedeke are all long-term items and kind the most effective offensive strains within the NFL. Outdoors of them although, the room might quickly be lacking some key members.

Left guard Ben Bredeson, heart Robert Hainsey, and swing deal with Justin Skule are all free brokers. After spending the earlier three seasons with the Giants, Bredeson signed a one-year deal to return to Tampa Bay in 2024. He match proper in between Wirfs and Barton, and whereas he stays about league-average, having him because the weakest hyperlink is a credit score to the group’s power.

There will probably be a marketplace for his providers, and though he desires to stay with the crew, Jason Licht must hope he doesn’t get out of their value vary.

Relating to Hainsey, Wirfs lately confirmed that the 2021 third-round decide is all however gone as he seems to discover a beginning function after Barton took his job final season. Dropping his gig to the first-round decide mirrored extra on how gifted the rookie was, as Hainsey was a two-year starter and admirably stuffed in when Barton missed the crew’s Week 6 recreation towards the Saints.

Bucs OT Justin Skule – Picture by: Cliff Welch/PR

His departure can be robust as it will not simply imply shedding a backup heart, however the most effective backup facilities within the league and somebody well-liked within the locker room.

Skule performed a vital function early within the common season when Goedeke missed 4 video games battling with a concussion and later stuffed in for the crew’s All-Professional left deal with after he handled an MCL sprain that pressured him to overlook a recreation. Head coach Todd Bowles was fast to commend him for a way he dealt with it.

“The big thing, when Luke [Goedeke] went down and ‘Skuley’ (Justin Skule) had to step in, that was huge,” Bowles stated. “Nobody really talked about Luke being down for a few weeks, but I thought those guys got some experience and really helped us in the end and developed some depth. Going into this year, that’s something we can hopefully build on.”

How Would Jason Licht Deal with Dropping Offensive Line Depth?

Bucs GM Jason Licht – Picture by: Bailey Adams/PR

With the influence of every Bucs’ offensive lineman laid out, how would Jason Licht look to beat potential losses? A state of affairs the place the crew loses Ben Bredeson, Robert Hainsey, and Justin Skule can be problematic, as outdoors of the 4 starters, the one different offensive lineman with some promise underneath contract can be Elijah Klein.

Even when Bredeson and Skule return, it rewards so as to add depth up entrance yearly.

Living proof – the 2024 Tremendous Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles.

When trying on the Eagles’ success blueprint, the crew’s offensive line has proved important to their success over the past half-decade. Even after heart Jason Kelce retired earlier than final 12 months, they relied on star offensive tackles Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson and shored up the inside with Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, and Mekhi Becton, considered one of their key free-agent signings.

Licht is aware of methods to draft and construct out a equally stacked offensive line, having efficiently discovered almost a complete new set of starters over the previous 5 draft courses. On the NFL Mix, he even admitted “[it’s a] good O-line draft.”

It’s the space of each crew that can’t afford to lose depth, and contemplating how the most effective groups within the NFL stockpile offensive line expertise, it’s a technique that has confirmed to work.

Now, don’t count on Tampa Bay to make use of a first-round decide on a giant man, regardless of how fond Licht could be of North Dakota State’s Gray Zabel, a former school teammate of Cody Mauch’s and somebody who impressed throughout Senior Bowl week in Cellular, Alabama.

It may not even be on Day 2, however it will not be stunning to see the entrance workplace make investments one other draft decide into the offensive line and consider including a veteran into the combination. Proper now, the Bucs are each means to enhance the roster and lift the ground from 10 wins to a Tremendous Bowl contender.

“I don’t think it’s a secret [that] we need to get some help in a lot of areas – particularly defense,” Licht stated. “It’s not as easy as some people might think. The answer isn’t always just throwing a lot of money at positions. You’ve got to be smart about it, because as happy as we are with the offense, we also want to continue to enhance there, too. We need some help in a lot of areas, which, in some ways, is exciting for me, because we could go any which way in the draft and it would help our team.”