The Quiet Dominance Of Luke Goedeke
June 22nd, 2026
Vital.
Joe knows fawning over the Bucs’ offensive line — when healthy! — drives some folks nuts.
For some, it’s cool to always slam the Bucs offensive line. Always! You know, just because.
Two years ago, when last fully healthy, Joe believed the Bucs’ front line was the third-best in the league at worst.
Last year? Ha. What a trainwreck.
Now Joe’s favorite Bucs player is, with Lavonte David and Mike Evans gone, might be Tristan Wirfs. What’s not to like about him? But you know what, last year when Wirfs returned from his knee surgery rehab, he wasn’t his best week-in and week-out. That may sound like heresy, but that’s the ridiculous, sick standard Wirfs has established for both himself and his offensive line teammates.
(Joe’s favorite run play last season by the Bucs was when Rachaad White ran left toward the left pylon, running behind Wirfs. The All-Pro left tackle took out a would-be tackler at the line, took out another on the second level and splashed a defensive back at the goal line to spring White into the end zone. Joe was damn near standing at attention while watching that.)
Last year, Joe wasn’t so sure Wirfs was the Bucs’ best offensive lineman. Why’s that? Because Kevin Patra of NFL.com noted right tackle Luke Goedeke didn’t allow one sack all year. Sure, Goedeke missed a bunch of time with an injured foot. But when he returned, he was dominant.
(This is partly why Joe has been so freaked out by how Baker Mayfield’s play sank after the bye. His offense got healthier and he fell off a cliff.)
If Goedeke plays like that this year, who exactly has a better pair of tackles than the Bucs?
Patra also noted strong blocking by Wirfs and Goedeke is why he believes new Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson succeed Hard to argue.
June 22nd, 2026 at 12:22 am
i recall a recent game of Goedeke’s that was an utter embarrassment, or am I hallucinating?
Or was this article produced solely as clickbait?
Perhaps I am thinking of the wrong season? Who knows.
Maybe other readers can help me remember.
June 22nd, 2026 at 12:33 am
Joe,
BINGO!!
This is exactly why I’m excited about Zac Robinson. Pundits see “Goedeke allowed zero sacks” and think it’s just an offensive line stat. It’s much bigger than that. When you have tackles like Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke locking down the edges, an offensive coordinator isn’t forced to babysit the offensive line. He can open up the playbook. More play-action. More deep shots. More route combinations that take time to develop. More creativity in the run game. More ways to stress a defense.
That’s what makes this article encouraging. Zac Robinson isn’t walking into a rebuild. He’s inheriting one of the NFL’s best tackle combinations, a franchise QB, an emerging running game, and an offense that already has a strong foundation.
Elite coordinators are at their best when they’re not spending Sundays trying to hide weaknesses. They’re at their best when they’re attacking defenses.
If Wirfs gets back to his All-Pro standard and Goedeke continues playing at the level he showed last year, Zac Robinson has a chance to unlock another level of this offense.
LFG!!
Ring Me
June 22nd, 2026 at 12:42 am
Didn’t Goedeke have like 6 penalties in 1 game??
You just can’t have that severe of a concentration lapse and expect to win a ballgame….
I honestly wonder what the deal was with Luke that game….
Hope he stays healthy this year.
June 22nd, 2026 at 12:55 am
It would be nice to have an OC for more than a year.
June 22nd, 2026 at 1:00 am
813, You’re a welcome salve to the rampant pessimism in the comment section. I’ve never seen such a persistent group of glass, half empty supposed fans in my life. You know the ones. Copy paste pessimism. I try to be a realist but lean toward optimism because, why not? Especially in the off-season. Particularly one where we had a couple of things fall into place that don’t happen every season.
So yeah, why not be reasonably optimistic in June? There’ll be plenty of time to cry in our Cheerios during the season I’m sure. Hopefully not too much. Until then? I’ll choose to be happy about the draft and hope that the guys we chose turn out to be great. Not worried about the contract situations, it’s not my money and I have no control over it. And my comments here aren’t going to sway any negotiations.
So I choose not to worry about it. By reading the comments, you’d think we had a group of former GM’s, coaches and players pontificating as if they actually know something more than you or I. Hilarious. Anyway, enjoy your posts. Keep it up.
June 22nd, 2026 at 1:12 am
aww Joe got your feelings hurt? Truth Hurt? yeah 6 penalties in one game
June 22nd, 2026 at 6:24 am
I suppose it must be pointed out that penalties aren’t sacks
June 22nd, 2026 at 6:31 am
Great that we eventually locked down the edges last season while the pocket was collapsing like a sinkhole from the middle.
June 22nd, 2026 at 7:17 am
Scotty, that’s kind of the point. If your tackles are elite, you’ve already solved two of the five spots up front. Those are also the hardest positions to fill.
The interior wasn’t perfect last year, but Graham Barton is entering Year 2, Cody Mauch took a major step forward, and Ben Bredeson settled in as the season went on.
You’re describing a line that had issues and finished the season stronger. Joe’s describing a line with two elite bookends and a young interior that’s still ascending, those aren’t contradictory ideas.
If Goedeke and Wirfs continue playing at that level, Zac Robinson is inheriting a much better situation than most first year coordinators.
LFG!!
Fire the cannons!!
Ring Me
June 22nd, 2026 at 7:23 am
@Steeven007 🫡
Thank you, sir. I bleed pewter and red. Some folks spend the entire offseason looking for what might go wrong. It’s like looking at a brand new Corvette and saying, “Yeah, but one tire needed air.”
I’ll acknowledge the flaws, but I’m not going to ignore the engine, either.
June 22nd, 2026 at 7:32 am
@Steeven007 🫡
Thank you, sir. I bleed pewter and red. Some folks spend the entire offseason looking for what might go wrong. It’s like looking at a brand new Corvette and saying, “Yeah, but one tire needed air.”
I’ll acknowledge the flaws, but I’m not going to ignore the engine either.
LFG!!
Ring Me
June 22nd, 2026 at 7:52 am
I’ve mentioned this before, but Mauch is an elite run blocker. In 2024, runs between Mauch and Barton averaged over 5.5 yards per carry! Runs between Barton and Bredeson averaged only 3.5 yards per carry. Wirfs is getting better and better at run blocking, but Mauch is already there. I’ll be so happy to have the whole line in there this year. Watch how Mauch does on runs. He’s awesome!
June 22nd, 2026 at 9:36 am
You could hv Robinson as your OC and a Head Coach that is in J Ville if J Light didn’t have his head installed deeply , oh so deeply !! I mean that’s an owners and GM s dream . You hv a clearly , hear and elsewhere underperforming coach and a New Mega , Ultra Mega , Best by Far Ever OC ( with HC experience) ready and deserving to get moved up !! I mean a MEGA Dream Scenario and Licht and the Glazers BLEW IT !! Plain and Simple neither party is ready for their positions, ya they can do the avg Dumb Jock , same as the rest of the League stuff .
But When it was Time to Give Bowles a New Title for the best intrest of the players, the fans, the organization !! Well !! THESE BOZOS made Todd Bowles , a proven over and over and over again AVG at best head coach # 1 , these Bozos Made Todd Bowles #1 . Yes , let’s choose Todd’s feelings over ALLLL the Fans, Allll the players and the Entire Organization !! Talk about an absolute failure of unheard of magnitude !! But the inept, dumb, jock disease never gets called out for what it is. BTW anyone says Todd’s contract could have had influence . Well if you put Jacksonville‘s record with the Bucs in 2025 , well the organization would be worth about 250 more million dollars.
What an Absolute Joke !!!! Jason Licht Failed Miserably ……….. I mean this gets swept under the rug, but this is like trading a whole draft basket of pics and the following year‘s first round for a kicker out of Florida State. YES it was that bad !!
June 22nd, 2026 at 11:49 am
Bonzai! Im sure mayfield says the same thing ..GO BUCS!
June 22nd, 2026 at 11:58 am
Baker has proven to suck, and the more important the game, the harder the suck.
June 22nd, 2026 at 1:48 pm
I remember when everyone was ready to give up on Luke after his rookie year but they smartened up an put him back to his normal position at RT an he became a Start Tackle Duo with Wirfs we have them both locked up for years our O line is good Cody needs to be next because he brings attitude with Luke we need that an he has done it all rigjt