“Hitting It Out Of The Park”
April 27th, 2020
A 2019 Tampa Bay Buccaneers photo
A former NFL offensive lineman and current national analyst things the Buccaneers crushed Round 1 of the draft for multiple reasons.
“This idea of just improving high-upside, raw-technique [offensive linemen] doesn’t happen [as rookies] — because there’s no time to develop guys anymore,” ex-Panthers, Giants, Chiefs and Vikings guard Geoff Schwartz told CBS Sports Radio.
With lots of NFL life on hold because of The Sickness, which will cut short offseason work, Schwartz was adamant that the Bucs found the guy in this talented class of tackles that is NFL-ready.
“I thought that Tristan Wirfs going to Tampa was fantastic for them,” Schwartz said of the Bucs’ first-round pick. “They ended up hitting it out of the park, him falling to 13, where they traded up a spot for him. He’s a guy right now who can play right tackle.”
Schwartz recalled the days immediately following the 2011 lockout when his Panthers teammates arrived in late July and the first couple of days were all about figuring out whether everyone was in good enough shape to have an effective practice.
The number practices in pads for the 2020, first-round offensive linemen around the NFL just won’t be enough for them to thrive out of the gate, Schwartz said, but the exception is Wirfs.
Hitting it out of the park with Wirfs, Joe sure hopes Schwartz is right.
April 27th, 2020 at 1:04 pm
Wirfs will still be working out. And he’s already very gifted physically and athletically. No worries from me at all.
April 27th, 2020 at 1:10 pm
This guy is quite an athlete……and athletes are generally usually in good shape.
He’s the anti=swaggy……
April 27th, 2020 at 1:17 pm
Wirfs is a beast, and we have RT depth with the guy out of Indy. The OL just got 30% better with these two!!!
SOLID depth and brawn. me like um…….
April 27th, 2020 at 1:21 pm
I dont understand the misinformation on Wirfs He is a combine darling who’s 40 time and jumping out of the pool shows explosive ability. However when you review his tape its scary with him playing right tackle as he looks like he has really slow feet and gives up big plays often. This is after he has and will not receive any better Offensive line coaching in his life. He will end up at guard. You don’t move up in the draft or draft a guard in the first round unless its Q Nelson the instant All Pro.
April 27th, 2020 at 1:34 pm
He will be fine. I remember how worried people were about Devin White.
He was fine Wirfs will be too.
April 27th, 2020 at 1:43 pm
Way to go BA. I wasn’t happy about losing a 4th to move up one spot but if Wirfs is as dominant as advertised then I can’t complain.
April 27th, 2020 at 1:55 pm
Love watching all these local NFL armchair GM’s complain.
April 27th, 2020 at 1:59 pm
Question is can he dominate? Maybe. He’s a physical freak like Vita so he’s got a chance but there’s no guarantee or he’d have gone before the other 3 OTs. Fingers crossed.
April 27th, 2020 at 2:04 pm
@itzOk
I agree I see Wirfs as a great guard and a good RT. That was a really high draft position for G or RT. I hear Heag is no slouch and Cappa started to come into his own last year. I don’t think it’s a done deal that Wirfs is an opening day starter but he will be a contributor for the Bucs at some point.
I liked CeeDee and Kinlaw if it was up to me I would’ve looked elsewhere to fill the RT/G position. In the second, possibly move to get a RB or grabbed JK Dobbins. This would’ve guaranteed two opening day starters which I don’t believe we have in Wirfs and Winfield.
April 27th, 2020 at 2:10 pm
at least this makes me feel better about our run game going forward.
April 27th, 2020 at 2:12 pm
Agree @ Raging Bisquick…he doesnt need to hold his own for 5-6 seconds. Did you forget how fast Brady lets the ball fly out his hands?
April 27th, 2020 at 2:13 pm
Yea love fans who are currently collecting unemployment checks throwing stones at a few clips on YouTube they have watched.. nothing better to do I guess…
April 27th, 2020 at 3:00 pm
Really we are complaining about Wirfs here? That’s like complaining that your super model girlfriend has fake Gerber servers.
April 27th, 2020 at 3:08 pm
We winning the Super Bowl this year!
April 27th, 2020 at 3:13 pm
Nice! 🙂
April 27th, 2020 at 3:14 pm
Anytime a GM can bring in top tier coaches and 2 hall of gamers plus a couple of good draft picks, you have done a great job. All this negative around Jason Licht is laughable.
April 27th, 2020 at 3:24 pm
I dont care if there fake or not …. I want to motor boat those Gerber servers ( * ) ( * ) 😉🏈🏆
April 27th, 2020 at 3:57 pm
@ItzOK:
Who do you think has spent more time cutting up Witf’s tape and attending combine and workouts, and talking to his college coaches: Bucs scouts and coaching staff, or some pencil-neck geeks on youtube who just repeat what sounds cool to each other?
Who is best to judge: youtube geeks and their slavish audience who repeat their weak sauce, or professional player personnel people who claim Wirfs is a phenomenal talent?
And please: there are prolly 320 OL in the NFL, and another several thousand in college ball. Which one of those do NOT have some flaw in their game?
April 27th, 2020 at 4:06 pm
https://youtu.be/7986quO8Jo Check this All 22 break down of Wirfs. He may need some work.
April 27th, 2020 at 6:47 pm
@Cobraboy … “there are prolly 320 OL in the NFL, and another several thousand in college ball. Which one of those do NOT have some flaw in their game?”
Excellent point. There are very very few DOMINANT OLinemen. IMO it’s more about how well the OLine plays together as a UNIT. For example, the OLines protecting Brady in NE didn’t really have dominant linemen, but as a unit they were very effective.
And I agree with Daniel that Haeg is no slouch & Cappa was improving steadily last year. I wouldn’t be at all surprised though to see Haeg in the starting lineup come the Fall. No question in my mind that BA will put the 5 best on the field to protect Brady.
April 27th, 2020 at 6:52 pm
Funny how people actually think players aren’t working out together somewhere, somehow. Hope everyone is well, Trump’s billionaire baby Glazers besties (Yak) can find some way around Jane Castor laying down the TPD parks closed law.
April 27th, 2020 at 8:43 pm
I love the fact that we drafted a right tackle to play right tackle. Ali’s growth was stunted due to shifting him all over the place. Our line doesn’t look spectacular, but it looks solid with the addition of Wirfs.
April 28th, 2020 at 12:24 am
I hope everyone is right about Wirfs, there’s just something about him that seems off. But I’ll be more than happy to be wrong. I did like the rest of the draft, but would have been happy if we doubled up on offensive tackle in a draft so deep with them.
April 28th, 2020 at 3:39 am
@Cobraboy-
If Wirfs is so good why did three other tackles get drafted before him. Itz a fact that Wirfs has slow feet and when he played against oh say the 38th pick in the draft he abused and exposed Wirfs. So my point is I feel Wirfs isn’t a tackle and Licht got hosed by Lynch to take him. I hope Wirfs is a HOF player and I am dead wrong. However when other teams that needed a tackle the other GM’s passed on him including SF who kept their tackle needs a secret and went Dline. I like moves Licht has made like when the Bucs have a need a WR. Licht signs a FA like desean Jackson and drafted Godwin. Here he signed a Colts backup RT Tackle and then drafted Wirfs. I see how he is trying to address needs but my point remains the same alot of other teams didn’t see Wirfs as a Tackle and the fact that teams choose others above him proves it. I feel the Bucs should have traded down and tried to draft another tackle later in Rd 1.
April 28th, 2020 at 4:02 pm
ItzOK, I just watched a 10 minute Highlight film of Iowa/Penn St from this past season, and everytime Matos went against Wirfs, which wasn’t often, he (Matos) got stonewalled. You do realize Wirfs played right tackle, right? I think if Matos got any sacks, or made any big plays against Wirfs, it would’ve been in the highlights. He did make a couple against the LT, but not Wirfs on the right.