The Buccaneers’ offensive line has a simple identity heading into 2026: if Tristan Wirfs is rolling, the whole group can look the part of a top-tier unit.
That’s the view from Sharp Football Analysis, which ranked Tampa Bay’s front No. 4 in the NFL on June 30, placing the Buccaneers behind only the Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. The logic starts with Wirfs, who remains the centerpiece of everything Tampa Bay wants to do up front.
Last season, Wirfs gave up just two sacks and 23 pressures. He logged 778 snaps and turned in a 92.7 Pro Football Focus grade, the second-best mark at his position, along with an 84.9 pass-block grade and a 91.6 run-block grade. CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco also ranked him as the 22nd-best player overall, a reminder of just how much he drives this line.
But the Buccaneers learned the hard way that even elite play from one tackle can’t cover for a battered group. Cody Mauch missed the season with a torn meniscus, Luke Goedeke spent six straight weeks on injured reserve and Wirfs himself missed the first three games.
The result was a line that couldn’t hold together, and Baker Mayfield felt the effects. He dealt with lingering injuries that dragged down his season.
Now Tampa Bay is banking on a healthier group to change the story. Wirfs is joined by Ben Bredeson, Graham Barton, Mauch and Goedeke, and there’s enough solid work in that mix to understand why the Buccaneers are drawing buzz.
Bredeson posted a 76 PFF pass-blocking grade, seventh among guards, while allowing one sack and 23 pressures in 622 snaps. Barton’s grades weren’t eye-popping, but he was on the field constantly, playing 1,135 snaps, the second-most among centers. Goedeke also held his own, finishing with a 78.9 pass-blocking grade, a 72.9 run-blocking grade and a 75.8 overall grade, all good for top-25 marks in PFF’s offensive line categories.
Then there’s Mauch, who played only two games last season but looks set for a rebound. Tampa Bay’s 48th pick took a clear step forward in his second year, finishing just outside the top 15 among guards with a 74.6 PFF grade. His run blocking sat at 68.4, his pass blocking at 77.2, and he allowed 19 pressures.
If the Buccaneers can keep this group on the field, the ranking makes sense. If they can’t, last season’s problems are waiting right there.
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