The Bucs offensive line has been hit hard during the offseason and training camp. First came the initial blow when Pro Bowl left guard Ali Marpet announced he was walking away from football. Tampa Bay was able to re-sign center Ryan Jensen, but lost another piece of their interior line in free agency when right guard Alex Cappa joined the Bengals. General manager Jason Licht was quick to act, trading a fifth-round pick to the Patriots for Shaq Mason, seemingly creating just one open spot to replace this season.

Bucs C Ryan Jensen – Photo by: Scott Reynolds/PR

All those plans were dashed when Jensen went down with a knee injury on the second day of camp. While his injury diagnosis is still unknown, there remains hope he may return at some point late in the season. With Jensen down, backup Robert Hainsey was thrust into the starting position. Hainsey has done a good job so far, and the staff has the utmost confidence in him.

The Bucs spent a second-round draft pick on Luke Goedeke to add to the battle for the starting left guard spot. He joined holdovers Aaron Stinnie and Nick Leverett for the chance to compete for the job. Goedeke got his first crack with the first unit in joint practices with the Titans and started Saturday’s preseason game. That pushed Stinnie into the starting right guard spot in Nashville where the worst happened on Saturday night.

Bucs Line Hit With Injury

Stinnie suffered a serious knee injury when running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn was tackled into the back of his leg, and had to be carted off the field. Head coach Todd Bowles confirmed the worst Sunday, announcing Stinnie would miss the entire season with a torn ACL and MCL. A once deep group along the interior has now thinned quite a bit.

On Sunday Bowles was asked if  he was comfortable with the depth along the interior and if the Bucs could look outside of the organization for depth at the position.

“We have some depth right now, but we are always looking to bring in somebody that can help the team,” Bowles said. “So, if there is something out there that is available to us that we can get, then we’ll try to take a shot at it.”

There aren’t many players available that could be plug in play starters for the Bucs if they were to choose to go that route. Right now Leverett and Goedeke are the last men standing in the battle for the starting job, but both have their limitations. However, if the Bucs were looking for veteran depth with starting experience there are a few players who they can sign that have experience in the “duo” run concept the Bucs run.

Ereck Flowers

The addition of Flowers would signal a clear message that the Bucs do not deem Leverett or Goedeke ready to take over the starting left guard spot. Flowers played all of his snaps at the position last season with the Washington Football Team. He also has experience in the Bucs “duo” run blocking scheme. The veteran guard received a 72 offensive grade from Pro Football Focus, which ranked 25th among all guards, but ranked 15th amongst guards with 700 or more snaps.

Flowers’ 78.1 pass blocking grade ranked fifth-best of guards with 1,000 plus snaps, and his run-blocking grade, 64.4, put him 35th. However, he did allow six sacks last season and 26 pressures, but only had two penalties in 2021. There is also the question of compensation. Flowers, 28, earned $10 million last year and the Bucs have just over $9 million in cap space. They would need to be creative how they structured the deal, but he would provide an immediate boost to the line.

Quinton Spain

Like Flowers, Spain played all of his snaps at left guard last season for the Bengals. Spain would be a veteran competinf for the job and at the very least an experienced back up. Though known as more of a run blocker than a pass blocker, he graded out higher than Flowers overall with a 72.3, per PFF.  His pass-blocking grade was much lower than Flowers at 58.9. However, his run-blocking grade was significantly higher, 76.3, ranking him 1th best in the league.

Spain, 31, did allow five sacks in 2021, while getting flagged four times and giving up 23 pressures. He would also come at a much lower price tag after making just 1.2 million last season. The 31-year old offensive lineman played well over his last two seasons with the Bengals, but was harrassed in the Super Bowl by the Rams defensive line. He would be a strong addition to the Bucs’ depth and a potential candidate to start at left guard.

Earl Watford

Bucs G Earl Watford – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Watford makes sense as he knows the scheme and the system. After spending a month with the team in 2020 during the playoffs, he was re-signed during training camp but suffered an injury that landed him on injured reserve. He was out of football in 2021, but saw 269 snaps with Tampa Bay at right guard in 2019. More of a versatile depth piece than a legitimate threat to start, Watford would provide veteran depth along the line. He would only command the veteran minimum and has already stated he’s available. But at age 32 how much does Watford have left in the tank?

Oday Aboushi

Aboushi, 31, would be more of a depth signing then a real threat to becoming the starter. He played all of his snaps last season at right guard, but has experience on the left side as well. More importantly, he has experience in the Bucs’ run blocking scheme. However, he would be going on his seventh team in nine years and was called for two penalties in his limited snaps a year ago. More of an outside option of joining the team, he would likely come at the veteran minimum.