Welcome back to another addition of “Grinding the Tape!” This week I wanted to focus in on another young player who could make a jump in playing level this year. Bucs right tackle Tristan Wirfs has already established himself as one of the elite offensive linemen in all of football. In just two years, Wirfs has already garnered multiple accolades including a Pro Bowl and a first-team All-Pro selection.

Bucs fans have come to expect high-quality play from him on a week-in, week-out basis. Most offensive linemen make a big jump in year three in the NFL. Could this apply to Wirfs’ already excellent level of play. In my estimation there is still room for growth and the answer is yes, he can.

Where Wirfs Excels

It is very apparent in watching his tape that Wirfs is more comfortable as a pass blocker right now than he is as a run blocker. His movements are more fluid going backwards than they are going forwards. His footwork is smoother, and he plays with better internal timing. And this shows in his grading. Through his first two years in the league Wirfs has posted pass blocking grades of 81.0 and 84.2 versus run blocking grades of 74.9 and 74.6 per Pro Football Focus. And that is where we will start with the areas of Wirfs’ game that are already established as great-to-elite. For this evaluation I watched the Bucs 2021 games against Atlanta Week 2, New England Week 4, and Buffalo Week 14.

Anchor and Balance

What jumps off the screen when you watch Wirfs in pass protection is his incredible anchor and fantastic balance he displays as he drops to his set. The anchor shouldn’t be surprising when you consider he stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 345 pounds. But the balance did catch me off guard. For his size, Wirfs is incredibly light on his feet. And he invites the pass rusher to attack his frame knowing that he can absorb power and still set his anchor.  Here is an example for the New England game.

As you can see, Wirfs quickly kicks out to square up the rusher coming off the edge. He allows his man to drive right into his chest. But Wirfs knows that he is only going to give a brief step back before setting his legs and ending the defenders forward progress. And at that point Wirfs has both hands on his man and is now fully in control of the rep. Now this rep was against Josh Uche who is only 245 pounds. Is Wirfs able to do the same thing against a more powerful pass rusher? You bet!

Here is a rep against 6-foot-3, 291-pound Jonathan Bullard against Atlanta.

Bullard carries a lot more power with his added weight, but the result is the same with Wirfs. He squares up his hips, gets a solid grip, and uses his powerful lower half to absorb Bullard’s forward momentum, before dropping his anchor and freezing the two men where they stand.

As for Wirfs’ balance you really see it on display when defenders try to counter to the inside on him. Most counter moves are successful when the defender is able to get the offensive linemen to lean too far to the outside. This leaves either A) a gap back to the inside the defender can exploit or B) a way for the defender to push through the offensive lineman because they are too off-balance to re-direst back to the inside. With Wirfs it just does not happen very often. Here is a prime example against Dante Fowler, Jr. of the Falcons.

Fowler tries attacking Wirfs with a speed rush to the outside, hoping Wirfs will over-set. But Wirfs is able to move up the arc with incredible balance that allows him to easily shift back to the inside when Fowler attempts his spin move. Ultimately, Fowler is left in Wirfs’ warm embrace as quarterback Tom Brady completes his pass to tight end O.J. Howard.

Hip Flexibility

Hip flexibility is an underrated aspect line play on both sides of the ball. At the sizes that these players play at physics dictate that rotational mobility can be a challenge. Therefore, if a player lacks that rotational mobility in their hips, they can easily be taken out of a play. I detailed this with an earlier GTT featuring Ndamukong Suh.

With Wirfs he shows great flexibility in his hips that allows him to easily change direction when a defender attempts to change angles on him.

Steven Means tries to chop Wirfs’ outside arm and quickly flip his hips to take a direct route to Brady. But Wirfs is able to flip his own hips as well to change his plane and keep himself between Brady and Means.

Outside Zone Runs

There is a considerable difference in Wirfs as a run blocker in wide zone runs versus in a gap run scheme. With zone runs Wirfs is able to use his athleticism and momentum to wipe defenders out of plays. And I hope the Bucs play more to this strength of Wirfs in 2023. Especially with the addition of rookie running back Rachaad White. Here is an example against Atlanta.

You can see Wirfs is able to get out of his stance and on the move with relative ease. His athleticism allows him to keep up with the pace of the play. Then he moves to the second level. Here he finds the linebacker and locks him up. Wirfs finishes the rep by rotating the linebacker away from the running lane and puts him on his back. This allows Bucs running back Ronald Jones II to create a nice gain.

Where Wirfs Can Improve

While Wirfs has created an unfair standard for O-line play out of a young player, he isn’t without opportunities in his game. There were two areas I found in watching his tape that I think he can improve upon.

Stunts/Twists

This was an inconsistent part of Wirfs’ tape last year. Most likely there were some communication issues between him and Bucs right guard Alex Cappa. Those communication errors could lead to the occasional play like this:

Whether the interior linemen didn’t call out the looper or Wirfs just didn’t see him, that’s got to get cleaned up this year. Because Wirfs never came off of his initial block on the stunting end, linebacker A.J. Klein was able to have a free lane straight to Brady. You can see another one here with Atlanta.

Again, Wirfs locks into his original block on the stunting edge rusher and misses the looper who gets around to Brady. Improved communication and awareness should lead to this getting cleaned up. And I have faith it will be better in 2023 with the addition of new Bucs right guard Shaq Mason. And it wasn’t like Wirfs couldn’t pick these up at all. Just that it was inconsistent. Here is an example of one he picks up perfectly against Buffalo.

On this play you can see good communication between Wirfs and Cappa and a seamless pass off of the stunting end and the looping tackle. With center Ryan Jensen assisting Brady has nothing to worry about from the right side of the pocket.

Physicality In The Run Game

For a large human, Wirfs can play with quite a bit of reservation in the run game. His movements seem just a bit slower, more methodical and technical. It’s almost as if he is thinking about what he is doing rather than just reacting.  Here is an example.

You can see Wirfs gets out of his stance quick enough. However, his combo block on the defensive tackle and subsequent second-level block on the linebacker are slow and lack power and authority. He has the tools to help level the tackle and wipe out the linebacker.  He just needs to commit to using them more.

But this is again an area where he has shown he can do it. It’s just a matter of doing it consistently. Watch when he really engages and sustains his run block.

In this rep Wirfs has more physicality in his launch off the line and with the initial combo block as well as sustaining the block at the second level. That has to be more consistent in 2022.

If Wirfs can work on these two very correctable areas of his game, he can easily take another step forward. That will allow him to continue to ascend into the conversation for best all-around offensive tackle in the NFL. And I personally wouldn’t bet against him.