Tristan Wirfs And His High Standards
June 8th, 2023
Mental process.
Joe promises not to rant here about All-World right tackle Tristan Wirfs moving to left tackle.
Instead, this post aims to highlight what a class teammate Wirfs has been about moving to a new position.
Wirfs is learning a new position and a new offense. The biggest thing, he said, in flipping to the left side is that he must do everything backward now. Wirfs likened it to learning to ride a bike; if you get enough reps, you don’t have to think about what you are doing.
Joe thought a better description would be learning to drive in England where everything is on the left side of the road, not the right side. Many moves driving in England have to be the opposite of driving in America. But after some miles (kilometers?) logged, you don’t even think about it.
Wirfs said he goes through plays and techniques in his head daily to help himself. He tries to envision blocking opponents he expects to face this season.
“I think about it all day every day,” Wirfs said. “I think I played the season through my head like five times.”
It seems if Wirfs cannot come close to matching his play on the left side, he’s going to be disappointed.
“I have high expectations for myself,” Wirfs said. “I don’t want to let anybody else down.”
That last sentence pretty much explains why Wirfs is such a respected teammate.
June 8th, 2023 at 8:44 am
If anyone can make the switch, it’s TW!! He puts in the time and energy to be the best he can be!! His focus is on footwork, fundamentals, and technique. He’s big and quick. With all the moves! He works so hard at being the best!! IMO.
June 8th, 2023 at 9:07 am
This is why he’ll succeed. In his head, failure is not an option. Love it!
June 8th, 2023 at 9:07 am
Tristan is a rock star!
June 8th, 2023 at 9:11 am
And I like the new optimism, Joe!
June 8th, 2023 at 9:12 am
He’s the last buccaneer to worry about not performing
June 8th, 2023 at 9:13 am
One cannot help but admire the tenacity and spirit displayed by this young man.
June 8th, 2023 at 9:26 am
Best in the world at putting his hand in the mud and dominating the man in front of him. What a stud. Size, athleticism, speed, wrestling background. I could go on and on, but let’s just hope this transition goes as swimmingly for Mr. Wirfs as it does for him jumping out of a pool.
He is a true freak of nature, and I’m excited. I heard we are putting Vita in as a TE next to him in goal line. (I wish I heard that).
June 8th, 2023 at 9:29 am
Different on the left side, just concerned he will overcompensate and get injured. Hope not
June 8th, 2023 at 9:35 am
Imagine if Devin White had Tristans attitude and work ethic.
June 8th, 2023 at 10:06 am
It is a promotion. Would Joe turn down millions more a year opportunity if had to make some adjustments?
June 8th, 2023 at 10:21 am
I just can’t believe he was the last of the big 4 OTs picked in his draft. All the time, money and research and all those other teams picked the other 3 bf Wirfs.
June 8th, 2023 at 11:11 am
If anyone can pull it off that kid can.
June 8th, 2023 at 12:23 pm
Now we have to worry about the right side. Plenty of premier pass rushers line up over there too, ya know. The Watt Brothers and Bosa (yeah JJ retired but not my point) come to mind plus DCs will move them to the weaker side if they can be more effective. Wirfs will be fine protecting the blind side but can the right side hold up, especially against guys that have a knack for batting down balls as well as pressure? (Baker is on the short side at 6’1″) Hopefully we’ll see some TE help over there and the new OC won’t wait until midway through the 4th quarter to adjust.
The plus side is Wirfs’ experience over there. He’ll not only work hard to be the best LT he can be but will help the new RT as well with tips and pointers. You know whoever gets the job will pick Tristan’s brain for any nugget he can get.
I can’t wait to see some pre-season action! I know a lot of fans have low expectations but I doubt the players and coaches do and I really think we’ll be pleasantly surprised.
On a side note, I’d love to know what plans they have for our newest gingerMauch. Jensen sure seemed pumped to have him out there with him.
June 8th, 2023 at 1:21 pm
pay this man
June 8th, 2023 at 2:13 pm
I drove a standard transmission for most of my early years. About 5-6 years after I bought a car with an automatic transmission, I almost got into an accident. While maneuvering to avoid the accident, I put the clutch in. On a car with an automatic transmission. My point is, sometimes in a pressure situation, you do what’s ingrained in your brain. Hopefully Wirfs doesn’t do something similar.
June 8th, 2023 at 2:49 pm
He’ll definitely need all the OTAs and training camp to get this down. Biggest problem, like he said is switching his plant foot. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Plus he’ll be going up against the other team’s best pass rusher. I think he’ll be fine over there, but I hate taking away the game’s best right tackle. I’d also want to bump and pay if I were him. Left tackles make exceedingly more than right tackles
June 8th, 2023 at 11:01 pm
I don’t get why this Joe is so upset by this – if it doesn’t work out there’s a super easy solution – move him back to RT. It’s really that easy. I swear, Wirfs isn’t going to forget how to play RT because he played at LT for a short time. Also, you should want all your offensive lineman to be cross trained if at all possible. If Wirfs is merely an above average LT, you move him back to RT, and you know that, in case of an emergency, you can play him at LT and you’re still in excellent shape. This is what they did with Marpet, which was a dramatically harder switch, going from an all-pro guard to center – they moved him back, but you then had an emergency center that was still, at his worst, a top 15 center.
June 10th, 2023 at 11:47 am
sounds right on munch