Right Tackle Could Be In Play For Tristan Wirfs
September 22nd, 2025
So All-Pro, All-World left tackle Tristan Wirfs is on a path toward returning to play Sunday against the Eagles.
But where will he play?
Coaches love to talk about how important continuity is for an offensive line, but the Bucs seemed to flush that notion down the toilet when they moved Graham Barton from center to left tackle on short notice about four weeks ago, and Ben Bredeson from left guard to center.
Hey, they’re 3-0. It’s a great day in Tampa Bay!
So given the Bucs seemingly breaking all offensive line norms this season, they might do it again Sunday with Wirfs.
Today, Todd Bowles said the team isn’t set on returning Wirfs to left tackle given their situation at right tackle, where backup Charlie Heck is filling in for injured Luke Goedeke.
“That’ll be a big discussion depending on how he’s moving this week, depending on what side he’s moving better on if he has a side he’s moving better on,” Bowles said. “Then who played guard better, and they’re discussions we gotta have in the next day or so.”
Joe is flummoxed. Man, if Wirfs inside has “a side” that he’s not moving so great on, then perhaps he shouldn’t play?
Joe would think the Bucs would prefer to restore Barton to center and Bredeson to left guard and Wirfs to left tackle. That would bring order on the left side of the line and they could account for potential chaos on the right.
Regardless, Joe truts the offensive line gurus at One Buc Palace. And the weekly mystery is kind of fun.
September 22nd, 2025 at 12:47 pm
Oh please no don’t do this! Make the left side ultra strong. Thats where Baker. Ant see pressure coming!
September 22nd, 2025 at 12:49 pm
HOW much better is Barton at LT than is Heck at RT? I’m thinking no very much
September 22nd, 2025 at 12:49 pm
Who’s on first?
September 22nd, 2025 at 12:55 pm
If Wirfs returns to LT, that moves Otton to C, and Bredeson to LG.
3 of 5 starters are in place.
OR
You could keep Bredeson at Center and move Otton to RG.
Haggard was Horrible (OMG! That’s funny!!!! … It was the name of an old comic strip)
September 22nd, 2025 at 12:55 pm
Agreed
September 22nd, 2025 at 12:55 pm
No. It’s not fun.
September 22nd, 2025 at 12:55 pm
yeah im worried about rushing wirfs back
September 22nd, 2025 at 12:57 pm
Or… Wirfs could play center and try to get Pro Bowl status at 3 OL position
😉
September 22nd, 2025 at 12:59 pm
Ugh, I wanted to hear about Chukwama being prepped at RT, but going by this alone he’s not even being mentioned, yet. We’ll see how this shakes out, pretty sure Bowles, Grizz and our OL coaches will exhaust all options to get the right 5 on the field.
The attrition on the OL is a great example of the OL a being a team within the team. With all the shuffling we’re trying to find the best 6th-8th man coming off the bench like a hoops team.
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:01 pm
Listen, I want to beat the Eagles badly however not at the expense of rushing Wirfs back and injuring himself. If Wirfs isn’t a %100 rest him this week!!!
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:03 pm
I hadn’t even considered that. Not a bad idea.
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:05 pm
Just put him back where he was.
Get the line back to normal asap no more monkey business!
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:09 pm
They are rushing him back for the eagles game….not smart.
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:11 pm
Why not have Baker play center so he could snap it to himself?
Granted, we’re 3-0, but we’re a few seconds from being 0-3.
Bucky is often getting crushed at the line of scrimmage—something of a rarity last year. And Barton says it’s night and day to change OL positions without extensive practice.
I know some of these moves are necessary due to injury and lack of quality backup manpower for each OL position. But can we please stop playing musical chairs with this group and do everything possible to put these guys in the position where they find themselves most comfortable?
Even Wirfs, when he was first moved to the blind side, spoke of the difficulty of doing so.
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:14 pm
Wirfs – Brederson – Barton – Jordan/Klein – Heck; Cade/Payne
Chip the right with a back, bring back the full playbook, and continue to pound the rock. This is the most consistent running attack in the league, we the team needs to lean on that until the WRs heal up. At that point, this will be the #1 offense in the league.
I’m about to place a bet on TB to win it all this year, I really mean that.
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:15 pm
JA, spot on. But the Bucs Top Genius is smarter than everyone and will come up with The Big Surprise. It’s what he does when he’s not taking his foot off the gas.
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:17 pm
SlyPirate
You mean Barton, right?
Used to read Hägar the Horrible every Sun as a kid.
That comic strip is still alive and well after being passed on from creator Dik Brown through the hands of different family members. Very cool family legacy.
Good nick name for Harrard… as long as his play isn’t horrible, just his attitude towards the opposition.
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:19 pm
They obviously want Heck out of the starting lineup. They have no faith in him otherwise it wouldn’t be musical chairs along the line.
No need to rush Wirfs back. 3-0 has afforded the Bucs some patience with guys. Philly is the first game of the year vs a potential playoff opponent. Would be nice to beat them but I’d be perfectly fine showing them the scout team offense with Teddy B and saving all our banged up guys, getting them healthy for Seattle. Then hopefully a run starts!
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:22 pm
SlyPirate Says:
September 22nd, 2025 at 12:55 pm
If Wirfs returns to LT, that moves Otton to C, and Bredeson to LG.
3 of 5 starters are in place.
OR
You could keep Bredeson at Center and move Otton to RG.
Haggard was Horrible (OMG! That’s funny!!!! … It was the name of an old comic strip)
———————–
#1 it’s Barton NOT Otton
#2 it was Hagar the Horrible, not Haggard… which is the surname of a famous country music singer, Merle.
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:41 pm
Brandon..
Thanks 😊
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:55 pm
You all know this is a smokescreen like they did 3 weeks ago
Not tipping their hand to Philly
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:56 pm
Bring back Wirfs only when he’s 100%
September 22nd, 2025 at 1:56 pm
I trust them, but it sure seems the best thing to do is get your center, left guard, left tackle back to normal. Stick Otton next to Heck to help block a lot.
Then biggest issue is right guard.
Putting him at RT still leaves issues at both guards plus I would think you’d want them to get some semblance of normalcy back, especially going into these next four games
September 22nd, 2025 at 2:06 pm
Could be some gamesmanship going on here, f@cking with the Eagles preparation? Let’s not rush him back until he’s 100%. Although a win Sunday puts us in the early season drivers seat for that playoff bye.
September 22nd, 2025 at 2:06 pm
Did you hear about our new home-game promo? First 5,000 people through the gates get to play offensive line.
September 22nd, 2025 at 2:25 pm
Put Opeta at right guard and Heck at RT. Put the left side starters all back into place. This line will ROCK at running the football. Help Heck with a TE on some pass plays.
September 22nd, 2025 at 2:31 pm
I totally disagree with this idea… If he can’t move well enough to play LT then he shouldn’t be playing. Do NOT mess around with this guy. He’s a once in a generation type of player. I trust the staff, and they’ve done a hell of a job piecing together this line. If Wirfs is truly ready then the only thing that .makes sense is to let your franchise tackle protect your franchise QB.
September 22nd, 2025 at 2:40 pm
Bowles been BSing the media about the OL since Wirfs surgery and we’re all here expecting the truth on this particular issue?
September 22nd, 2025 at 2:46 pm
As much as I love owning the beagles did we not learn our lesson last season… I’ll take an L if Evans Tristan and Godwin need another week
September 22nd, 2025 at 3:11 pm
The Buc’s have options. Perhaps they use a “heavy” OL using an extra guard or tackle instead of 2 TEs. Should be interesting. The Eagles seem to get good pressure rushing just 4. We’ll see.
September 22nd, 2025 at 3:25 pm
i’m with joe. need to be able to anticipate which side is likely gonna leak when we plan the offense
September 22nd, 2025 at 3:25 pm
Why not tey to sign our old starting LT Donovan Smith? See if he can play RT. If he can’t, then he’s a better LT than Barton.
September 22nd, 2025 at 3:32 pm
I don’t remember Heck getting flagged Sunday? Can’t say as such for the guards, Ben, and Barton. So why does Heck have to sit? What did he do wrong? I’d rather they start the 3, Ben, Barton, and Wirfs where they belong. Klein and Heck will be fine.
September 22nd, 2025 at 3:38 pm
We could very well be 0-3 without the barton move to tackle. Its hard to get by without minimal athleticism at the tackle position. I am willing to bet that half the interior linemen in the nfl played tackle at some point and moved inside due to athletic limitations, Not the other way around(guards centers in high school became tackles in college and nfl). Barton has been outside for a reason , his agility, athleticism far outweighed our other options…heck,etc.
September 22nd, 2025 at 3:41 pm
On a different topic, if bredeson keeps grading out well, would Barton not be more effective as a guard , say next to wirfs or next to goedeke when he is back.
September 22nd, 2025 at 4:12 pm
I’m all about having your five best players out there. If putting Wirfs at the RT tackle position with Barton at the LT position, then I’ll assume the coaches believe that is our best option.
September 22nd, 2025 at 4:16 pm
Wirfs is the best offensive lineman in football, regardless of if he’s at RT or LT. I sort of get the idea, losing Luke means your shot at RT until he’s back – so the question is, if Barton is serviceable at LT, and Ben is playing decent at center, frankly it’s a lot easier to find guards than tackles, and Jordan was actually playing pretty well at LG. If Ben moves back to LG, then you’re flipping Jordan to RG, and is he still a fit there?
The Bucs are clearly a lot more concerned with tackle than guard – and Barton is clearly better than Heck, and I guess Chewbacca, who I’m still surprised we haven’t seen at all considering he looked good in the preseason.
In any case, I completely understand what the Bucs are doing and why – you’re trying to give Baker and Grizz the best chance at using the full playbook. If you got Wirfs at LT, Ben at LG, and Barton at C, sure solidified the left side of the line, but you got some serious issues on the other side, and the idea would be to spread out the strengths so the defenses can’t just attack the right side of the line.
September 22nd, 2025 at 4:16 pm
We could ask Barton his feelings on that. Bredeson has been an excellent center.
September 22nd, 2025 at 4:18 pm
I do think Barton would be an amazing pulling guard…
September 22nd, 2025 at 4:22 pm
Love how many fans of Haggar the Horrible there were.
That was a funny comic.
September 22nd, 2025 at 4:25 pm
Barton’s brain matches his physical skill, combined with a great attitude make him just an amazing OL.
He has the ability to not only play but to at least hold his own at the most important position on the line for the RH QB…LT. I feel certain if this had happened early in training camp the and TW was healthy the Bucs wouldn’t have minded plugging Barton in at RT. But TW has played BOTH position equally well and Barton is still learning to be an NFL LT…I don’t suspect the Bucs want to give him a 3rd position play.
September 22nd, 2025 at 4:34 pm
Aqua, like one half of a stopped clock, you are right this one time. The top genius is smarter than you and the rest of the posters. When it comes to football. That’s for sure.
September 22nd, 2025 at 5:46 pm
Wirfs – Bredeson – Barton – Jordan – Chukwuma
That’s what I would like to see.
Yea – I know – they aren’t going to start a green as grass udfa rookie at RT vs the Super Bowl champs his first game…. It’ll be Heck I’m sure. But at least get the kid some live snaps out there so we can see what we’ve got. I think Chukwuma is going to be a gem of a find – but he needs some playing time to see how good he can really be right now.
Goedeke is out a minimum of 3 more games. Its possible that Chukwuma is an upgrade over Heck – despite his inexperience…. LETS FIND OUT….
September 22nd, 2025 at 5:47 pm
They have no faith in Heck. Now the issue is telling your all pro closer he needs to pitch the 8th inning at right tackle. I think the question is how does Tristan think about this. Almost needs to be his idea, hey coach I can play right tackle if that is where our need is best served. Would love to be a fly on the wall this week at One Buc.
September 22nd, 2025 at 7:12 pm
Loved haggard the horrible. But I think you mean barton, not otten
September 22nd, 2025 at 7:35 pm
Wha wha what WHAT!?!?!? Charlie Heck … I mean, the guy hasn’t been stellar but you HAVE to get those backup Gs off the field!!! Wasn’t Bowles watching the game yesterday?!?!
September 22nd, 2025 at 7:47 pm
I think I’ll just wait for the game to happen and won’t speculate on what the Bucs may do and why it will work or not. After all, I’m just a fan and don’t have even close to the inside information from practices to make any sort of informed decision. What can I say, that’s just me, quite obviously.
September 22nd, 2025 at 7:51 pm
I don’t always agree with Munch but he’s dead-on this time!
September 22nd, 2025 at 8:01 pm
We are 3-0. I don’t think they bring Wirfs back unless he is completely ready to play. If we were 1-2 or 0-3 they might push Wirfs to play even if he want completely 100%. You don’t want to lose but if we had to lose to give Wirf’s one more week we do it.
September 22nd, 2025 at 8:19 pm
Heck didn’t do that bad yesterday at RT had a solid day the pressure was coming from up the middle I think Haggard will get better each game I think Klein had a bad game but hopefully he will calm down a play
September 22nd, 2025 at 9:16 pm
Wirfs bring back only when a full go. No sooner. Don’t want another Luke g. How about seeing cad oaton more like Coen did he needs to play more .mix it up .last week run game won’t work against Philly. Let’s go giz time to get creative.
September 22nd, 2025 at 9:44 pm
Oh, for godssake, Wirfs is coming back cos he’s ready!! Let him play his position at left tackle, and let Barton go back to his position at center. The rest of the OLine will adapt and start breathing sighs of relief. Plus, our RBs and TEs can run, and catch balls again cos they’re not playing guard dawgs helping Bake. Some of the gunners can go back to ST. The Defense will probably faint cos we’re slowly getting recovered. And the Eagles? After the ref show Sunday? I’m just gonna laff! I know CG14 is getting set, and he’s biting at the bit to play with EE2. Now, are we sure this dude is a rookie?? Bring on Sunday and Bucs Radio cos this fan is ready!!
September 22nd, 2025 at 11:52 pm
Yea… I want Wirfs back as much as anyone else but to me this sounds like Wirfs should not be playing yet.