The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive line has a chance to be one of the NFL’s best again - if it can actually stay on the field.
That’s the big catch after last season turned into a mess up front. Tampa Bay never got a single game with its starting five together, and the injury pileup was brutal.
Left tackle Tristan Wirfs missed five games, left guard Ben Bredeson missed five, and right tackle Luke Goedeke also sat out five. Right guard Cody Mauch’s season ended in Week 2.
That left center Graham Barton as the only starter to make it through the year healthy.
Still, the talent is obvious when the group is intact. Sharp Football Analysis put the Buccaneers at No. 4 in its latest offensive line rankings, a strong endorsement for a unit that has been easy to overlook because of last season’s injury chaos.
"Tristan Wirfs remains one of the best tackles in the NFL, allowing just 2 sacks and 23 total pressures in 2025. The rest of the line dealt with injuries last year, but if the starters can stay healthy, this is an elite unit across the board."
Wirfs is the anchor, and really the tone-setter for the whole team. He’s made the Pro Bowl in five of his six seasons and has three All-Pro selections to his name.
On the opposite edge, Goedeke is developing into one of the league’s better right tackles. Inside, Barton brings first-round pedigree and room to grow, while Mauch and Bredeson give Tampa Bay a sturdy guard pairing.
For the Buccaneers, the health of this group is the whole story. Keeping Baker Mayfield protected is the key to making the offense hum, and last season showed how quickly things can unravel when the quarterback is forced to survive behind backups. The makeshift line was one of the quiet reasons the Bucs stumbled, even if it got lost in the larger wreckage of the season.
With better injury luck, though, this group has the look of a line that can drive Tampa Bay back toward the elite level it reached in 2024. In the end, everything starts with the big men up front.
In Other News...
Bucs Fans Should File Away This Quarterback For Future Draft Talk
A quarterback to keep on the radar for later draft chatter is Drew Mestemaker, the Oklahoma State passer who is drawing attention as he heads into the 2026 season. For Buccaneers fans already thinking ahead to future quarterback discussions, he checks a lot of the early boxes that tend to get scouts interested, from arm talent to the kind of quick decision-making that can help a young passer settle in fast.
Mestemaker also brings mobility and the ability to work all levels of the field, which is part of why his stock could keep moving if the progress continues. The next step is the one that matters most for any rising quarterback: cleaner accuracy, more reps, and the kind of experience that turns promise into something NFL teams can trust by the end of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Buccaneers Tight End Enters Camp With His Future Suddenly At Stake
Payne Durham is heading into his fourth training camp with the Buccaneers in a very different spot than when he arrived. The tight end room is thin, which gives him a real chance to stay in the mix, but his role has been shrinking and the team has not gotten much offensive return from his presence as a blocker.
Durham will get his chance to answer those concerns in camp and preseason, where every rep matters for a player trying to hold onto a job. With Cade Otton, Ko Kieft and two rookies also in the picture, Tampa Bay has options at the position, and Durhams path forward depends on whether he can do enough in the coming weeks to keep himself relevant. [Read more 🡒]