In soccer, a slant route is constructed on timing and precision. The receiver doesn’t waste movement – he breaks sharply throughout the sector into open area earlier than the protection can react. It’s easy in design, however separation is created by way of execution.
That very same method defines my weekly Saturday Bucs column, Slivon’s Slant.
Every week from now till coaching camp, I’ll have a look inside a distinct Bucs place group. The aim is to chop by way of the floor to search out the clearest path in evaluating this roster because it takes form. Then, as soon as the season begins, the column will proceed providing completely different angles for breaking down and discussing the staff. To this point, I’ve supplied in-depth profiles of the quarterback, operating again, huge receiver, and tight finish positions.
Now, it’s on to the offensive linemen.
Inside The Bucs Offensive Line Room
All-Professional Anchor: Tristan Wirfs
Offensive linemen are the least talked about group on a soccer staff. What they do will not be glamorized within the field rating, nor does it make it on the SportsCenter Prime 10 highlights. For as a lot as that could be the case, it’s price contextualizing the greatness of left deal with Tristan Wirfs. Wirfs is arguably the very best deal with in your complete NFL, and he’s presently on a Corridor of Fame trajectory.
Simply 27 years outdated, he’s already a five-time Professional Bowler and two-time All-Professional. He serves because the anchor of the Bucs’ offensive line, and former offensive coordinator Liam Coen described him finest again in 2024. Wirfs is a weapon.
Bucs LT Tristan Wirfs – Photograph by: Cliff Welch/PR
Operating behind No. 78 stays one of many easiest paths to offensive success. He’s a bully alongside the offensive line and on the line of scrimmage, enjoying each bit like his 6-foot-5, 320-pound body would point out (he’s even a bit bigger than that listed enjoying weight). The offense can belief placing him on an island, figuring out he’ll discover methods to outlive even in opposition to the very best cross rushers within the sport.
In relation to his athleticism, everybody is aware of Wirfs can soar out of the pool. He equally springs to the following degree to tackle defensive assignments and might push ahead or pull to the sideline to create operating lanes.
There are solely so some ways to explain his greatness, however irrespective of how it’s mentioned, Wirfs nonetheless feels underappreciated. For all of the headlines generated by Baker Mayfield, Bucky Irving, Chris Godwin Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, the offense’s finest participant stays the one lining up within the trenches. Inked to a record-setting five-year, $140.63 million contract again in the summertime of 2024, Wirfs will not be going anyplace. He’s locked in place as Tampa Bay’s blindside protector and staff captain for the lengthy haul. Respect each second, as a result of gamers like him don’t come round too typically.
Blue-Collar Bulwark: Ben Bredeson
Ben Bredeson will not be a reputation introduced up a lot discussing the Bucs offensive line. If the group is enjoying at its full potential, Bredeson is the weak hyperlink in comparison with the opposite starters. Nonetheless, if he’s the weak hyperlink, that speaks to how properly the remainder of the offensive line is enjoying. The seven-year veteran has discovered a house in Tampa Bay, becoming proper in with the tradition of the remainder of the room. It’s a group that has enjoyable on the market whereas displaying a Midwest, blue-collar mentality on the soccer area.
Bucs LG Ben Bredeson – Photograph by: Cliff Welch/PR
Bredeson has held down the left guard spot for the staff since signing as a free agent in 2024, shoring up a spot that was a major query mark. He rapidly proved to be an improve over Matt Feiler and Aaron Stinnie, who held down the place the yr earlier than. Bredeson will not be a legal responsibility on the place, proving able to doing his job and what’s requested. For an offensive lineman, anonymity typically means consistency.
That was on show most at first of final season, when he moved to heart whereas Graham Barton kicked to left deal with when Tristan Wirfs was recovering from an offseason process and held it down with out a lot fanfare. He’s a gritty, throwback participant and enjoys the physicality within the trenches. That has a novel function for Tampa Bay’s scheme, even when that doesn’t garner any headlines.
Command Heart: Graham Barton
Graham Barton will not be probably the most bodily imposing heart within the NFL, as he’s listed at 6-foot-5 and 314 kilos. Whereas Barton has been examined by larger defensive lineman since getting into the league, he’s a steadying presence upfront as the important thing communicator and command heart. A Duke graduate, he brings each little bit of the cerebral qualities demanded from the pivot. That’s what made him so extremely coveted by the Bucs, who drafted him within the first spherical in 2024. Primarily a left deal with in school, he has kicked inside on the subsequent degree, spending the previous two seasons growing and understanding what is anticipated of him.
Bucs C Graham Barton and QB Baker Mayfield – Photograph by: Cliff Welch/PR
What works to Barton’s benefit is his springy athleticism, which is on show when he climbs to the following degree on operating performs and is the primary one to the sideline on display passes. The athleticism is clear, however Barton nonetheless has to show he can persistently anchor in opposition to the league’s largest inside defenders. Understandably, he has had rising pains alongside the best way, however he possesses a secure flooring and excessive ceiling.
The Bucs didn’t draft Barton within the first spherical to be merely competent, although. They drafted him to change into one of many NFL’s higher facilities, and 2026 feels just like the season that may reveal whether or not that ceiling is practical. Latest offseasons have given him a crash course lining in entrance of nostril deal with Vita Vea, and this could possibly be the yr that he can ascend if the remainder of the offensive line holds up health-wise.
Mauling Menace: Cody Mauch
Cody Mauch’s presence was missed extra alongside the offensive line as final season progressed. After struggling a season-ending knee damage in the course of the staff’s Week 2 win over the Texans, the Bucs trotted out makeshift offensive line combos that lacked Mauch’s mauling playstyle.
He has a fun-loving, easygoing demeanor off the sector that ingratiated him to the fanbase, however he’s all enterprise and performs with a imply streak as soon as the helmet is on. That’s evidenced by how he performs to and thru the whistle, pancaking anybody in his path. It took time for him to achieve that degree after a attempting rookie yr, however he settled in and graded out as a high 20 offensive guard at both spot in 2024.
Bucs RG Cody Mauch – Photograph by: Cliff Welch/PR
Totally wholesome and including on extra dimension earlier than this season, plugging Mauch again in can be a noticeable improve from final yr. The precise aspect of the offensive line can be utterly shored up, and in a contract yr, I’d count on No. 69 to play his coronary heart out for a second contract in Tampa Bay. Even when Mauch settles into being a barely above-average proper guard, that’s all he must be. I count on him to be an anchor on passing downs and drive again his matchup within the run sport. An even bigger and higher Mauch can be welcomed again with open arms.
Battle-Examined Bookend: Luke Goedeke
After it appeared unlikely Luke Goedeke would get a second contract with the Bucs, his profession took a 180 in a constructive route transferring to proper deal with. Goedeke has made that spot his dwelling, growing right into a strong bookend on the other aspect of Tristan Wirfs. It was a daring transfer by the staff trying again kicking an All-Professional proper deal with out of his spot to make room for “Luke the Lifter,” however the transfer has paid off handsomely. His fiery, trash-talking character is an ideal match for the place, and it has made for some hilarious mic’d up moments.
Bucs RT Luke Goedeke – Photograph by: Cliff Welch/PR
Goedeke has change into an immovable drive for opposing edge rushers to get by, and I’d argue he’s the offense’s most underrated participant. His rise has not been talked about sufficient, as he has a case for being a high 5 proper deal with within the league. The Bucs invested closely in his skills, signing him to four-year, $90 million deal final September.
If there may be one factor that considerations me most about Goedeke’s sport, it could be his sturdiness. He has missed 10 video games over the previous two seasons after coping with a concussion in 2024 and a leg damage that landed him on injured reserve in 2025. Staying wholesome and enjoying 17 video games can be an enormous increase and make the group that significantly better.
Reserve Roadblocks: Ben Chukwuma and Justin Skule
Accidents to Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke in 2025 opened the door for Ben Chukwuma to see the sector sooner than anticipated. Regardless of his relative newness to the sport of soccer, Chukwuma dealt with his first two NFL begins admirably in 2025. He fared properly by first locking up Saints cross rusher Chase Younger after which had a strong encore three weeks later in opposition to Bradley Chubb. These had been robust attracts for “Chuks,” but it surely didn’t come out of left area, both.
After placing collectively a powerful coaching camp and preseason, it was solely a matter of time earlier than he labored his manner into the swing deal with image, beating out Charlie Heck for enjoying time. Heading into 2026, he has an unfair designation of being somebody no fan desires to see, as that might imply Tristan Wirfs is out of the sport. Nonetheless, Chukwuma has a ton of potential to stay round in Tampa Bay.
Bucs LT Ben Chukwuma and Saints DE Chase Younger – Photograph by: Cliff Welch/PR
Justin Skule has returned to the Bucs after a one-season cameo with the Vikings. It was exhausting responsible Skule for leaping on the likelihood at extra enjoying time in Minnesota, particularly after he had a strong first tenure in crimson and pewter. He was a stabilizing drive at proper deal with in 2024 when Goedeke missed time, settling in properly after his first begin in opposition to Aidan Hutchinson and the Lions.
One can count on Chukwuma to be the backup left deal with and Skule to be the backup proper deal with this coming season, and that’s the largest distinction between the 2024 and 2026 offensive strains. Between them, Tampa Bay has two backup tackles it trusts if accidents strike.
Inside Insurance coverage: Dan Feeney, Billy Schrauth, and Elijah Klein
With Ben Bredeson and Cody Mauch at full well being after struggling season-ending accidents, the inside offensive line is rather a lot stronger. That may serve your complete offense properly, however ought to accidents come up, additional insurance coverage has been added. Dan Feeney was re-signed to offer veteran depth, as he began 10 video games in 2025 and has performed in 132 video games in his profession. Billy Schrauth was an intriguing addition within the fifth spherical, as he slipped a bit as a result of accidents he suffered at Notre Dame.
Even with that, he’s projected to be a greater possibility than Elijah Klein, the 2024 sixth-round choose who stays on the roster. After profiling as a promising developmental piece, time is operating out for Klein to stay. His time to shine was when accidents popped up, but it surely was a press release that Tampa Bay most well-liked to trot out Feeney and Michael Jordan over him. As somebody who may also deal with heart duties, that’s one other path to him making the staff.
Closing Slant
General, the Bucs have a really gifted offensive line, if accidents don’t get in the best way. They hampered the group and stored them from being the identical frontline that was a catalyst for the unit’s success in 2024. Anchored by two gifted bookend tackles, it is going to be exhausting for opposing edge rushers to break down the pocket. The inside offensive line can be a lot improved in comparison with final yr, whereas the middle place is manned by a promising participant but to hit his ceiling. Greater than any place group on the roster, the offensive line displays common supervisor Jason Licht at his finest as a roster builder.
Something lower than a high 5 end from this offensive line can be a disappointment. My slant on this group? The Bucs’ offense will go solely so far as its offensive line takes it. After the retirements of Ali Marpet and Ryan Jensen, Tampa Bay spent years looking for solutions alongside the offensive line. Now, the problem will not be expertise — it’s conserving the group wholesome lengthy sufficient to show it.
