Jake Majors & The Bucs
May 6th, 2025
Newcomer
So who is the Buccaneers’ backup center?
Ben Bredeson was solid at center in limited time for the New York Giants, but does a starting left guard really qualify as a backup center? Joe believes that’s more of an emergency scenario.
Last year’s backup center is now the Jaguars’ savior at the position, Robert Hainsey.
Buccaneers officials say second-year guard Elijah Klein has been cross-trained and is an option, but he’s got less than 10 offensive snaps under his NFL belt. Starting right guard Cody Mauch? He’s got about as much center experience as Klein.
Enter undrafted Bucs free agent Jake Majors, the center out of the University of Texas. He reminds Joe of a smaller version of Hainsey at 6-3, 306 pounds. Perhaps that’s why Majors wasn’t drafted?
Majors has a ridiculous 58 college games under his belt, all at Texas. He’s known as a team-first, smart, tough-guy captain in the mold that seems to suit Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht.
Some even considered Majors to be a potential sixth-round pick.
Unfortunately, rookie minicamp on Friday and Saturday is only underwear football, but the Bucs will get to gauge how fast Majors picks up the offense and the loads of plays dumped on rookies to see if they’re mentally viable, especially centers.
If Majors can score a mental victory this weekend, then he probably will stick around with the team for spring practices.
May 6th, 2025 at 1:24 pm
More importantly: Graham Barton Year 2 should be AWESOME
Graham was a stud in year 1 but he still had rookie moments. Remember Year 2 for Wirfs, Goedeke, and Mauch? All huge improvements!!! … albeit Wirfs had a great year 1, too.
If Barton steps his game up, Bucky will compete for leading rusher in the NFL. The Bucs would own TOP and win a lot of games.
May 6th, 2025 at 1:26 pm
Depending on the site he had a 4-6 round grade. Safety JJ Roberts is another player who was expected to be a early day 3 guy. OT Chukwuma maybe the UDFA with the best story and highest ceiling. He was also given the largest signing bonus of all UDFA this year. The safety named Sanders and the big DT from FL are getting all the headlines but I think Majors, Roberts and Chukwuma are the ones to watch.
May 6th, 2025 at 1:26 pm
Backup center needed a Major upgrade.
May 6th, 2025 at 1:37 pm
Hillarious how Liam Ceon and the Jags thought an obvious weaklink in the 2022 Bucs Oline is gonna be their savior.
May 6th, 2025 at 1:41 pm
SlyPirate
“Bucky will compete for leading rusher in the NFL. The Bucs would own TOP and win a lot of games.”
While I agree with your statement I hope the first part does not come true but the second does.
Bucky will be competing against two tanks in Barkly and Henry. They are built to batter and ram and punish defenders. Don’t know that Bucky is durable enough to get enough carries to compete against those two Dreadnaughts.
I’m hoping Bucky competes and carries enough to get the Bucs into the playoffs.
Then when it REALLY counts let him run as much as needed.
May 6th, 2025 at 1:42 pm
Granted rookie olinemen can improve but theres no evidence that Hainsey has progressed in the same way Luke Goedoke has.
May 6th, 2025 at 1:46 pm
Practice squadder unless he has flexibility to backup at guard… but he has size limitations and especially short arms. Might be physically overmatched.
May 6th, 2025 at 1:46 pm
On Irving durability, he runs differently than Henry. There were many runs last year where he never took a real hit, unlike Henry, who absorbs and delivers a lot of punishment. So hopefully, Irving can avoid injuries.
On the Texas kid, you don’t play that long in one of the Top 5 premier colleges unless you have something. It’s funny to hear 306 lbs. referred to as small.
May 6th, 2025 at 2:22 pm
Hoping that Mauch, Barton and Bredeson all working the weights this offseason for greater upper body strength and leg drive. Jake Majors should follow Barton around in training camp to find out what surprised Barton most about the NFL rookie experience. An incremental 15lbs of muscle is going to be very helpful to Majors.
May 6th, 2025 at 2:29 pm
he’s already the backup on many depth charts
May 6th, 2025 at 2:47 pm
Don’t count out Opeta either. I still think he was winning OTAs.
And speaking of Barton, he was great last year, except for his last snap.
If you rewatch the playoff game, first, I think Baker got the first down on second down, but on third down, Barton forgot the snap count and didn’t snap the ball. They basically sacked Baker and it was a busted play leading to a FG.
That was TERRIBLE TIMING.
Only good news is he is a beast and Im sure he remembers that play more than me.
Barely.
May 6th, 2025 at 2:48 pm
Too light for today’s NFL center
Bless his heart like Hainsey he has given it all he has….
May 6th, 2025 at 2:56 pm
I kinda want to see Barton at guard. Maybe he would be an all pro like Marpet was.
May 6th, 2025 at 3:03 pm
In Licht I trust when it comes to offensive lineman. But not being drafted means something, if Licht thought he could play, he’d have been drafted. Still, bringing him to give him a look means something so we’ll see how it goes. In the modern NFL he does seem slightly undersized, but then again, that means our little guy playing QB can more easily see over him, so that’s not a terrible thing.
May 6th, 2025 at 3:14 pm
I always like for undrafted guys to make NFL tems and excel. They play their A’s off and give you everything they got.
May 6th, 2025 at 3:16 pm
I started looking at centers first this year and Majors is one of the best prospects available this year but that doesn’t means he is a capable backup for the Bucs.
Joe’s comparison to Hainsy is a good place to start. Majors is a lot like Hainsy but weaker with shorter arms. He will never ever get push in the run game and has no recovery skills. He struggles on the second level where Hainsy excels.
I am happy the Bucs have a few UDFA centers coming to camp but I’m more excited to hear that the Bucs seem to have been cross training Ezra Klein at center. I’d like to see him step in for Barton and leave the rest of the line as is if an injury happens because with his mass, strength and length he can possibly provide similar push to Barton in the run game. If he doesn’t work out moving Bredesen over is also a solution I can feel good about.
The Bucs aren’t going to find a rookie backup that won’t send the run game back to worst in the lauge.
May 6th, 2025 at 3:46 pm
Elijah Klein
May 6th, 2025 at 3:46 pm
ModHairKen
I certainly take your point. Bucky is not a punishing runner. But it’s the NFL and he’s still getting hit although I agree with you not like Henry who looks to dish it out.
I’ve pointed out Bucky’s rookie season numbers and style compare well with Barry Sanders. Again Bucky has to do it for a long time to actually be mentioned in a class with Barry but so far so good and Barry didn’t miss a lot of games.
May 6th, 2025 at 3:57 pm
I like the idea of a back up center. I don’t want a guard who can also play center, I want a center. There’s another UDFA center the Bucs are also bringing in. They are serious about landing a back up center.
May 6th, 2025 at 4:13 pm
Hainsey might have worked out for us at center. He was told to bulk up get more strength and add some which is exactly what he did in the off season. In his only game against the Saints he handled himself well and got a really good PFF grade in the game. A little more patience on the Bucs part and they could have saved that No. 1 pick for a more viable defensive player. Instead, like the small college guard we drafted who left the Bucs for the Bengals in FA, we came up with nothing from the entie 2021 draft. Way to go Licht.
May 6th, 2025 at 5:14 pm
That guards name was Alex Cappa he sign with Bengals and got 40 mil for 4 years he had 1 good year with them been pretty terrible for them especially last year lowest ranked guard in the league and is now 30 yrs old and the Bengals let him leave in FA and sign for 11 mil for 2 years with the Raiders. Only because Spyteck drafted him so I think the Bucs were ahead of the curve and have plenty patience. Hainsey was a good back up nothing more.
May 6th, 2025 at 5:17 pm
If this kid can be a diamond in the rough and is a stud, why not move Barton to guard and our oline will be the best, if he pans out which sounds very possible
May 6th, 2025 at 5:40 pm
Kieran Says:
May 6th, 2025 at 5:17 pm
He’s not. He’s a fringe NFL player at best. Practice squad guy who could maybe fill in well enough to not lose a game, but doesn’t have the tools to be an NFL o-lineman.
May 6th, 2025 at 6:14 pm
Hainsey was too light and got pushed around and Majors is smaller.
This guy needs to get in the weight room and bulk up to 325-330lbs of muscle. Perhaps he can do that in a year on the practice squad. A nice developmental signing if he works hard to take advantage of the opportunity. Welcome to Tampa.
May 6th, 2025 at 6:18 pm
In some cases it’s not about the tools a player has physically, It’s about technique, Skill set, and the heart to want it badder than someone else.The kid might have heart.