The Crumbling Of The Offensive Line
November 26th, 2025
Suddenly weak.
Last year Joe thought the Bucs’ offensive line was maybe the strongest unit on the team.
It’s slowly turning into a trainwreck.
Sure. the Bucs have injuries up front. First it was Tristan Wirfs, then it was Luke Goedeke then it was Cody Mauch. Then, Ben Bredeson.
Mauch is out for the year. Wirfs and Goedeke are back in the starting lineup. Bredeson will shortly, too.
Watching the Rams sealclub the Bucs on Sunday night, the first thing that jumped out to Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic on the Bucs’ offense was that the Rams’ defensive line simply owned the offensive line.
Bucs’ O-line overmatched
Even before Mayfield exited the game, he and the Bucs offense had few answers for the pressure from the Rams’ defensive line and blitzers. And Mayfield had to account for both: Whether it was Josh Wallace, the slot cornerback playing in relief of an injured Quentin Lake, who blitzed to force an incompletion and ran a simulated pressure to force another; or outside linebacker Jared Verse, who got to Mayfield for a sack on a three-man rush.
Per Next Gen Stats, Mayfield was 0 for 4 with an interception when pressured, but as mentioned, it was the simulated looks that seemed to affect him, too. Mayfield tried to get the ball out quick but was 5 for 11 for just 12 yards when throwing under 2.5 seconds, per Next Gen.
Joe is curious to see what Bredeson’s return does for the line. Joe is actually shocked how Tristan Wirfs, at times this season, has looked positively mortal. He seemed to be doing better earlier in the year.
Ever since Chase Young got over on Wirfs a couple of times in New Orleans, Wirfs has too often played average football. Joe wonders if Wirfs has fully returned to his physical beast self prior to having knee surgery?
The line has been a mess for much of the past month.
November 26th, 2025 at 9:07 am
ANOTHER JASON LIGHT SCREW UP .BRANDIN COOKS WAS FREED FROM THE SAINTS THE VETERAN RECEIVER, WHO WANTED MORE PLAYING TIME. NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR JASON LIGHT . BUT PLENTY GOOD FOR THE BILLS WHO SIGNED HIM ! FIRE LIGHT WHO DOES NOTHING TO HELP AND FITE THIS WHOLE INEPT COACHING STAFF ! THEY DONT WANT TO WIN . 😡
November 26th, 2025 at 9:11 am
Bingo.
What is the harm of brining Cooks in as a number 5 receiver. Test him out, if he into longer has it, let
November 26th, 2025 at 9:11 am
If no longer has it, let him go
November 26th, 2025 at 9:15 am
I read many other team sites like this one. And MOST are complaining about their offensive lines, including the Lions and Patriots. Almost every team has injured O-lineman. Lack of continuity kills communication especially with all the stunting and exotic blitzes defenses use now more than ever.
November 26th, 2025 at 9:16 am
Cooks made it through waivers and was then signed by the Bills. He doesn’t have much left in the tank. And who we have already and the ones coming back – Godwin, Evans, JMac – are infinitely better. That’s why we passed.
Just curious – who would you hire to replace Jason? You never fire someone until you have a replacement in mind and ready to go.
November 26th, 2025 at 9:22 am
The decline is understandable
The only unit that gets a pass from me
November 26th, 2025 at 9:22 am
You can’t block anybody you can’t open run Lanes fire Todd
November 26th, 2025 at 9:23 am
Les and Whatevs,
Are you kidding me?
Cooks is not any good at all. Get real.
People see a name and they freak out. Cooks hasn’t produced in years.
November 26th, 2025 at 9:24 am
Whatevs Says:
November 26th, 2025 at 9:11 am
“If no longer has it, let him go”
Or, you could see the obvious and not bother at all.
November 26th, 2025 at 9:24 am
No Cody Mauch; No Wirfs for 4 games. Players playing out of position. Backups weak.
November 26th, 2025 at 9:24 am
For real another receiver? That’s not why we’re losing lol.
November 26th, 2025 at 9:28 am
I’d find out whomever does most of the evaluation for pro personnel and the draft from Les Snead and Howie Roseman and promote them to their opportunity to build a team reflecting their principles
November 26th, 2025 at 9:29 am
People blaming JL for bad luck on the injury front. Do you even know what a bad GM looks like!?! Rookies.
November 26th, 2025 at 9:36 am
This is what overconfidence looks like. “We got this, we don’t need other players”. The team quit, fire Bowles!
November 26th, 2025 at 9:42 am
Receiver is definitely why we are losing but Cooks couldn’t help. We need our WR 1,2,3 back and at full strength. Once that happens we should be on a roll right into the playoffs.
November 26th, 2025 at 9:42 am
For weeks we have seen passes behind the sticks…..not dump offs….but by design.
Baker has no time and defenses are covering these short passes. He seems to be immediately throwing to WRs….not RBs behind the sticks.
Our receivers are not creating separation because they have no time.
Something is dreadfully wrong with our Oline pass protection
November 26th, 2025 at 9:43 am
It’s fair to point out – the whole 21 draft was a 0 and he doesn’t seem to know how to navigate the comp pick rules
That being said he gets a pass from me after moving on from Bowles bc I honestly can’t tell you how talented our guys are without real coaching
There’s a disconnect between talent level and performance on this D – we need an innovative DC to implement a new system and evaluate with fresh eyes
And the new HC must be an innovative offensive mind – at the beginning of the college season I liked Miamis OC but I’m all ears for suggestions
And I get the argument of grass being greener but it’s time to look over the fence
Could be a wrong swing but take 1 – take 3 you got nothing to lose – the SB window w/ David, Evan’s and Godwin is over – maybe you get another partial yr from Mike but at what $ cost – time to rebuild the front 7 and get new weapons, depth on OL – lotta work to do but I think Baker is worth building around
Gonna take more than the draft though
November 26th, 2025 at 9:44 am
Watching these games it’s pretty clear
1 – Wirfs isn’t right. Maybe he never will be again.
2 – Barton is out of position.
3 – Bredeson is more important than we think.
November 26th, 2025 at 9:49 am
Injuries have absolutely OBLITERATED the offense this year.
It’s a combination of everything….
Now we got our QB with more injuries…..
We CAN run the ball but our passing game & route concepts are crap.
Buh-bye Grizzard!! You not ready for the smoke just yet…
November 26th, 2025 at 9:49 am
The Oline has been a mess all year, the defense has been very poor most of the year, yet here we sit at 6-5 having gotten through the toughest part of the regular season. I think we would have all taken that record. However, it’s looked so bad lately that I’m to the point of wanting wholesale changes in coaching. Next draft should be DE and LB in all rounds. Or trade some picks for proven veterans. So tired of the JAGs. Yaya hustles and has potential. Who else besides Vita?
November 26th, 2025 at 9:51 am
If the play calling was more creative the oline would be playing alot better.
November 26th, 2025 at 9:53 am
This team is soft and brittle. The entire organization is an embarrassment.
November 26th, 2025 at 10:06 am
Both sides of the ball need to get better quick. It pains me to say it but I can see the Bucs losing too many more games.
November 26th, 2025 at 10:18 am
Grizzard isn’t cutting it at all. Bowles isn’t cutting it at all. Whoever that imbecile is coaching special teams should be deported to Antarctica, coated with fish guts, and fed to rabid penguins. Please, feel free to not bother reminding me his name.
Which brings us to Sunday and the birds. This is a must win game. Our only saving grace is that those guys would probably rather fish for a high draft pick than beat us. Bowles has rallied the troops late in the year in the past, but this year feels different. That offensive line is more a symptom of a deeper rot than an actual fault in and of itself. The winds blow ill.
November 26th, 2025 at 10:26 am
Grizzard has no feel for play calling. They can end that experiment
November 26th, 2025 at 10:37 am
You should do an article about the non emergence of Chris Braswell Jason Licht’s golden boy he’s on pace for 24 total tackles this year Remember he was going to thrill the entire NFL world FJ
November 26th, 2025 at 10:48 am
Walter, Braswell< JTS!
November 26th, 2025 at 10:52 am
BucsFanInOregon, agreed 💯 but don’t get started on him 😂😂
November 26th, 2025 at 10:54 am
@walter and @Les I could not agree more I think it’s time to have a conversation about Licht but people seem to think he’s untouchable around here, and I am not sure where all of that is coming from, some of his decisions have been extremely questionable but I guess that SB buys him unlimited time here according to some. As long as Brady was running around here, he was in charge of bringing in Free agents there weren’t lining up to come here because Licht was here, and Brady had his reasons for coming here and you aren’t going to make me believe it was because Licht was here!!!
November 26th, 2025 at 10:58 am
Cody and Ben big losses the continuity is off right now. N it’s Cody’s contract yr 😢
November 26th, 2025 at 11:00 am
Under NORMAL circumstances, Wirfs probably should be resting that surgically affected knee.
He is recuperating while playing FOOTBALL. He still ain’t right!
November 26th, 2025 at 11:05 am
Our defense is loaded with high draft choices. It also has some highly paid players. It’s either bad drafting, bad coaching, or both. I think it’s both. Licht sure missed on picks, but I’m sure Bowles signed off on all his defensive picks. Hard to believe Licht forced any defensive picks on Bowles he thought didn’t fit what he wanted to do. I know it’s Bowles who likes to move college DEs inside, Hall, Roberts, and likes OLBs who can cover. So is it the chicken, or the egg? Glazers will evaluate at years end. Who knows what they’ll do?
November 26th, 2025 at 11:26 am
Rodrigue was right about the Oline against Rams, we could all see it. You knew Baker was going to have to run and get injured because of Oline deficiencies plus the utter lack of good play design by Grizzard. He should look at Shanahan’s play calling against Carolina where he had Kittle wide open on the kind of short routes that could work for the Bucs even with little time for Baker in the pocket. And Otton has to make the easy catches (that is two interceptions this year because of his inept receiving). Lots of problems here and on D but hopefully some good things happen against Cardinals.
November 26th, 2025 at 11:55 am
If you look at the all 22, it’s pretty obvious why Baker isn’t getting many completions. No one is getting any separation within that 2.5 seconds
November 26th, 2025 at 12:09 pm
So is that grizzard or our receivers or both.
November 26th, 2025 at 12:12 pm
licht has to trade for crosby in the offseason…
then draft an OL and the rest defense….
bowles has to bring in a 43 DC and new special teams coach…
shut Jmac and cg14 down until next year…
play RW1 in the slot the rest of the year…feed Tucker
GO BUCS!!!!
November 26th, 2025 at 12:24 pm
What’s up with Bredesen & Haggard? When will they return? The line looked good with this lineup:
Goedeke 6-5 312
Haggard 6-7 305
Barton 6-5 314
Bredesen 6-5 315
Wirfs 6-5 320
November 26th, 2025 at 12:25 pm
Almost the entire roster is crumbling…receivers battered, O-line is Olay!, tight ends are a non factor ( Durham and Culp deserve more snaps ), linebackers lost or long in the tooth, corners in flux-Dean out the door soon, Benji burnt so far, Zyon acting like he won the lottery ( cause he kinda did and is bored I guess ). The good news is Tykee is a keeper and their best defender and of course Embuka is promising. Chase has a big leg…especially with the doctored kicking balls.
November 26th, 2025 at 12:28 pm
They could not handle the delayed twist where the DT started up the field and then slanted to the outside and the DE started up the filed and came around the DT into the middle. The guards and Barton were slow to pick up the DE twisting inside.
November 26th, 2025 at 1:09 pm
Need Bowles Explanations Nation Threads. Bowles explanations are fun and entertaining.
November 26th, 2025 at 1:26 pm
Fred McNeil … ‘Whoever that imbecile is coaching special teams should be deported to Antarctica, coated with fish guts, and fed to rabid penguins.’
You’re starting to scare me now Fred. I’ll never sleep again for fear of being consumed by ‘rapid penguins’.
November 26th, 2025 at 1:41 pm
TBBF … ‘Something is dreadfully wrong with our Oline pass protection’.
That nails it IMO. And I think the key is Ben Bredeson. He went out after the Saints game (we were 6-2 at that point), and we’ve lost 3 in a row since he’s been hurt. I’m convinced that he’s the glue that holds that Oline together.
Feeney & Jordan have now played 3 straight games as our Guards. The others (Wirfs, Barton & Goedeke) have also logged full-time in those 3 games, so our OLine has had perfect ‘stability’ for these last 3 games … and we’ve struggled at key times in the Passing Game in all 3 games.
But we’ve done reasonably well running the ball in all 3 games.
o Pats game: 21 runs for 113 yds (5.4 YPC)
o Bills game: 39 runs for 202 yds (5.2 YPC)
o Rams game: 29 runs for 123 yds (4.2 YPC)
That’s an average of 30 runs for 146 yds per game (4.9 YPC).
These subs can run-block, but their pass-blocking isn’t where it needs to be. Hmmm, what should we do?
November 26th, 2025 at 1:59 pm
Mayfield, Bucky and White all made the o-line look better than it actually was last year, specifically in pass protection. This has been a recurring theme for the Bucs since Mayfield was signed.
With that said, they’ve definitely regressed this year even more. Speaking of regression:
– Tristan Wirfs > gets paid > Regression
– Antoine Winfield > gets paid > Regression
– Jamal Dean > gets paid > Regression (then takes pay cut > plays his best ball ever)
– Zyon McCollum > gets paid > Regression (and he was never anything special to begin with)
Anyone notice a theme? Everyone on this team is content to just win a few games and not be last in the weak NFC South. Including the HC.
November 26th, 2025 at 2:09 pm
“Bowles needs to hire a 4-3 DC.” Lmao wut. What is the actual point of Todd Bowles then considering he would be stripped of his entire philosophy and identity of himself, his defense and football team for that matter? To keep him as a ceo? So he can continue with his brilliant clock management? Unreal.
November 26th, 2025 at 2:37 pm
To win in the NFL first requires health. Depth is important because of health.
Health has been the culprit this season. Maybe it can improve, maybe it can get worse.
That said, Barton has been a weak link this season. I get that both OGs are down, but still…
November 26th, 2025 at 4:10 pm
BucFanDMV Says:
As long as Brady was running around here, he was in charge of bringing in Free agents there weren’t lining up to come here because Licht was here, and Brady had his reasons for coming here and you aren’t going to make me believe it was because Licht was here!!!
—————————————————————————————–
@BucFanDMV, Licht built the team that attracted Brady to come here.
You certainly don’t have to believe it. You can go ahead and believe the earth is flat as well. Here in America, we have the freedom to believe what we want. 😉
November 26th, 2025 at 4:46 pm
No more Coen to scheme runs. Scheme is more important than players.
November 26th, 2025 at 5:35 pm
Cobra – I agree that Barton has been a disappointment. When it comes to the offensive line, the real high end guys are transformational from day 1. Joe Alt, Quenton Nelson, Wirfs, Landon Dickerson, etc etc etc. Barton has been so so at BEST and when you’re in the middle of 2 absolutely atrocious guards – you’re counting on Barton even more to help anchor those 2. Goedeke has been by FAR our best offensive lineman this yr and it’s not close. Wirfs hasn’t been able to lift weights due to the injury and he’s been a shell of himself as a result. Idk, I think finding a real center and moving Barton to guard could be a good play, at some point, and would kill 2 birds with one stone by improving depth in one area and improved play in another. Either way, we all know the inevitable this yr. 8-9 or 9-8, we back door our way in to the playoffs and then we get absolutely thrashed by the Seahawks or rams
November 26th, 2025 at 7:48 pm
Man I thought the cowboys had the biggest cry babies as fans. After reading these comments lately Tampa tops it.
November 26th, 2025 at 7:49 pm
You’re missing, what… LG1, RG1, RG2, RG3.
When you’re down both guards, why do people not expect this to happen? Mix that with Baker in his typical mid-year slump, having happy feet, holding the ball too long, this is the result.
Thankfully, if you get Ben back, you can probably cover at RG. BTW, I thought Luke Haggard was going to start – he’s healthy, but is listed as 3rd string on the Bucs depth chart. Maybe they just don’t update it, but he should be in there as Feeney is terrible.
But get Ben back, that alone should help a ton.
November 26th, 2025 at 8:35 pm
EVERYTHING STARTS with the OL. Rushing, passing, sacks, first downs, 3rd down conversions & TD’s. NOTHING works right without a good OL. And our OL has done a horrible job this year. If we fail to make it to the playoffs it will be because the OL has for one reason or another not done a good job this year.
November 26th, 2025 at 9:16 pm
Too many games on concrete is killing the bucs and hurting the league.
If the nfl doesnt like the look of grass then just photoshop it, please.