Let Tristan Wirfs Freight Train The Bucs To Victory
July 27th, 2026
Ride your best!
With the possible exception of Antoine Winfield, Joe doesn’t think there is any question or debate on who the best Bucs player is.
That would be left tackle Tristan Wirfs. Last year, Joe doesn’t think Wirfs was truly right after his season was delayed due to offseason knee surgery.
Wirfs may have had the worst season of his NFL career, per the high standards he had set. But Wirfs’ “worst” is elite for most mortals.
Even if Wirfs wasn’t himself, that didn’t mean Wirfs he was without dominant moments.
Two plays spring to mind for Joe, and both are in the video below as Wirfs was voted No. 52 player in the league by players in the annual NFL Network Top-100 Players feature.
The first play Joe witnessed in Seattle where Wirfs tossed three different defenders away, one on each level of the defense, as Wirfs snowplowed a touchdown path for Rachaad White. The second was when the Bucs used a pulling Wirfs to escort Sean Tucker down the right sideline for a 43-yard touchdown.
The icing on that cake was Wirfs tossing Buffalo safety Jordan Poyer to the turf. Good stuff!
With Wirfs being the beast he is, you’d think the Bucs would run behind him. A lot. Nope.
So when Joe read Warren Sharp’s 2026 Football Preview, Joe was stunned to see how little the Bucs ran behind Wirfs. The Bucs ran more behind center Graham Barton (91 rushes) than Wirfs (32). The Bucs did run wide left fairly often (85).
Barton isn’t Wirfs. Remember that Barton, for most of last year, had garbage playing on either side of him. So why in the world would then-offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard run more behind Barton than an All-World left tackle, even if Wirfs wasn’t always his dominant self?
(It reminded Joe how former Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales ran behind Robert Hainsey far more than Wirfs. Madness!)
If the Bucs want to return to the playoffs, it might be wise to start running behind Wirfs. It’s always best to use your best players.
And Wirfs is the Bucs’ best player.
No. 52 on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2026…@Buccaneers OT Tristan Wirfs! @NFLFilms pic.twitter.com/L4pmXzAEHt
— NFL (@NFL) July 24, 2026
July 27th, 2026 at 3:12 am
Clearly, their best player. Not really a debate.
July 27th, 2026 at 4:39 am
They should be running behind Wirfs, and Barton by moving Barton to LG. Get a real center, and let Barton become a pro bowl guard like Marpet did when he moved over. What a waste of talent.
July 27th, 2026 at 5:50 am
#52 rank is blasphemous.
July 27th, 2026 at 6:37 am
Winfield?
Which version, prepaid or postpaid?
July 27th, 2026 at 6:44 am
It is like I keep asking. Did the Bucs do no self analysis after games during the season?
These trends were damn obvious from my couch. Hire an intern that is competent in fairly basic math to provide this kind of analysis each week, real time during games, and cumulatively for the season.
July 27th, 2026 at 7:01 am
Hodad, not disagreeing that moving to LG may be the right answer. But I am looking forward to see how well he does this year if he just plays Center and they leave him there.
For a 2nd year Center last season was kind of……weird
July 27th, 2026 at 7:23 am
Doubt if it’s that simple! Good defenses know who the best players are as well. Run blitzing to Wirf’s side would make him way less effective. That’s why you need at least four out of five good linemen. Last year the Bucs had two good linemen and one of them wasn’t playing well at all. This year will be better!
July 27th, 2026 at 7:33 am
2 seasons isn’t enough time to pull the plug on Barton at center. Next year? Well this is the last year of Bredeson’s contract, so I could see that