INTRO: News of Bucs All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs undergoing knee surgery, as reported first by Tampa Bay Times Bucs beat writer Rick Stroud, stole the headlines this week. So let’s dive more into the Wirfs situation with the start of training camp less than two weeks away.

FAB 1. With Tristan Wirfs Out, Trust Bucs O-Line Coach Kevin Carberry

How did this happen?

Why did the Bucs wait this long to schedule surgery for All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs?

Why can’t Bucs fans have nice things?!

I get it. You’re unhappy … perhaps pissed off about the Wirfs situation.

I don’t know all the particulars that went into the situation where Wirfs waited until early July to have knee surgery other than the Bucs and Wirfs tried to rest and rehab his injury away this offseason and it just didn’t happen. Both the talented left tackle and the team ran out of time.

You’re not happy about it, but neither is Wirfs and the Bucs. Yet here we are.

Bucs LT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Wirfs is rehabbing his injury and I’m going to respect his privacy during summer break. Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and the Bucs front office are also on vacation and pretty much off limits. We’ll get answers soon as the Bucs veterans report for training camp on July 22, but what’s done is done.

So if you want to fixate on the problem, you’ll have to wait to assess blame.

Football coaches and general managers don’t do that. They focus on solutions rather than problems. So that’s what I’m going to do in this week’s SR’s FAB 5.

I’m not trying to get you high on hopium, nor am I trying to sweep the Wirfs situation under the rug.

Just understand that there are three possible outcomes here if Wirfs misses a couple of games – disaster and an 0-2 start without Wirfs, the Bucs get by without Wirfs and go 1-1, or the Bucs don’t miss Wirfs at the start of the season and go 2-0 – not just one (disaster).

Two of those options aren’t bad.

Keep in mind that Wirfs had minor knee surgery and is expected to return before October. When he does return, he’ll likely be back to his All-Pro form for the rest of the season. I’ll take a healthy, All-Pro Wirfs for 13-15 games this season, wouldn’t you?

I say that Wirfs had minor surgery on his right knee because the injury happened last year versus San Francisco in Week 10, and he wound up only missing one start. Justin Skule filled in for Wirfs for the majority of the 49ers game and then started at left tackle for Wirfs at New York against the Giants after the bye week.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield and RT Justin Skule and Lions DE Aidan Hutchison – Photo by: USA Today

After that, Wirfs returned to action at Carolina on December 1 and played the last seven games of the season, including the playoff loss to Washington, and was named to the Pro Bowl and the All-Pro teams. If Wirfs’ knee injury was severe, he wouldn’t have played at an All-Pro level, he likely would’ve missed more action during the 2024 season and he would’ve had surgery right after the season.

The reason that you are frightened of Wirfs’ injury is that he’s not only the Bucs’ best offensive player – he’s the best player in Tampa Bay.

And Skule is in Minnesota, where he’ll start for the injured Christian Darrisaw at left tackle.

And you’re scared of the unfamiliar – in this case, new swing tackle Charlie Heck and his below-average PFF grade.

You are welcome to live in your fear (or your rage) if you want to as a Bucs fan, but that can be a pretty miserable place to live if you ask me.

The NFL is a world where “next man up” isn’t just a slogan – it’s a way of life. Every team loses a key starter at some position at some point during the season.

In the Bucs’ case, this is actually the best-case scenario to an undesirable outcome because the team literally has about two months to prepare and plan for being without Wirfs for a few weeks – and to get Heck ready.

I guarantee you that Bowles isn’t fearful of this situation. Neither is quarterback Baker Mayfield nor offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard.

Do you know why? Kevin Carberry.

In Kevin Carberry I trust.

FAB 2. The Bucs Trust Kevin Carberry

I’ve heard from Bucs sources that Kevin Carberry is an offensive line guru. Others have called him an offensive line savant.

Coaching matters, and great assistant coaches are hard to find at the NFL level. Elite ones are rare, and Carberry is the best offensive line coach I’ve ever seen in Tampa Bay in my three decades of covering this team.

The Bucs feel the same way, which is why they prevented him from joining Liam Coen’s coaching staff in Jacksonville and promoted him to run game coordinator this offseason.

Bucs OL coach Kevin Carberry – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Not only did Carberry and assistant Brian Picucci coach Tristan Wirfs to an All-Pro level at left tackle and take the games of right guard Cody Mauch and right tackle Luke Goedeke to a Pro Bowl level, Carberry also got first-round pick Graham Barton ready to play center at a high level as a rookie.

Carberry also turned left guard Ben Bredeson from a journeyman into a solid lineman worth a three-year, $21 million contract extension. And he leveled up the play of reserve offensive tackle Justin Skule to the point where he filled in admirably for Goedeke in four starts at right tackle and for one start in place of Wirfs at left tackle in 2024.

Keep in mind that Carberry had less than a week to prepare Skule for Detroit’s Pro Bowl edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson in Week 2 after Goedeke began showing concussion symptoms after the Week 1 win versus Washington. Carberry will have eight weeks to prepare newcomer Charlie Heck, who is a mountain of a man at 6-foot-8, 311 pounds, to fill in for Wirfs at left tackle.

Heck already got a head start by getting every first-team rep in OTAs and the mini-camp for Wirfs, so he’s started to develop some chemistry with Bredeson and get a feel for how and where Baker Mayfield likes to set up in the pocket.

Bucs OT Charlie Heck and OL coach Kevin Carberry – Photo courtesy of the Buccaneers

The Bucs wound up 4-2 last year when missing a starting offensive lineman. Skule went 3-2 in those games and backup center Robert Hainsey helped the team win in New Orleans when he filled in for Barton.

Justin Skule at RT at Detroit – Tampa Bay wins 20-16
Skule allows 3 sacks, 4 pressures
Baker Mayfield: 12-of-19 for 185 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Bucs run for 70 yards
 
Justin Skule at RT vs. Denver – Tampa Bay loses 26-7
Skule allows 2 pressures
Baker Mayfield: 25-of-33 for 163 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Bucs run for 91 yards
 
Justin Skule at RT vs. Philadelphia – Tampa Bay wins 33-16
Skule allows 2 pressures
Baker Mayfield: 30-of-47 for 347 yards, 2 TDs
Bucs run for 111 yards and 2 TDs
 
Justin Skule at RT at Atlanta – Tampa Bay loses 36-30 in OT
Skule allows 1 pressure
Baker Mayfield: 19-of-24 for 180 yards, 3 TDs
Bucs run for 160 yards
 
Robert Hainsey at C at New Orleans – Tampa Bay wins 51-27
Hainsey allows 0 pressures
Baker Mayfield: 24-of-36 for 325 yards, 4 TDs, 3 INTs
Bucs run for 277 yards, 2 TDs

Justin Skule at LT at New York Giants – Tampa Bay wins 30-7
Skule allows 1 pressure
Baker Mayfield: 24-of-30 for 294 yards
Bucs run for 157 yards and score 4 TDs

Now I get it – that was Skule and not Heck. The good news is that we’ll see how Heck performs in camp and in a few preseason games before the games count for real – starting at Atlanta in Week 1.

When the Bucs missed out on re-signing Skule in free agency, I was told that the team really liked Heck’s tape from his stops in Houston, Arizona and San Francisco. I was also told that Carberry’s tutelage had really improved Skule from the time he arrived in Tampa Bay, and that the Bucs were hopeful that he could do the same thing for Heck.

That was communicated to me back in March when Heck signed, too – not just recently because Heck will be the next man up due to Wirfs’ surgery.

Bucs OC Josh Grizzard and OL coaches Kevin Carberry and Brian Piccuci – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

It also helps that new offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard was on hand to witness the Bucs putting game plans together without Goedeke, Barton and Wirfs last year, and watched Coen and Carberry navigate those injuries the way they did. Now Grizzard will be charged with doing that without Wirfs for the first couple of games in his first stint as a play-caller.

Carberry is Tampa Bay’s offensive line whisperer, and everyone in the building from head coach Todd Bowles to general manager Jason Licht to Grizzard to the players themselves trust him.

Shouldn’t you?

FAB 3. Is Graham Barton An Option For Bucs At Left Tackle?

There is no doubt that Tristan Wirfs is the best athlete among Tampa Bay’s offensive linemen. He’s a beast. He’s a freak. Wirfs is a damn mutant who belongs in the X-Men.

That’s why he was able to make a seamless transition from being an All-Pro right tackle to becoming an All-Pro left tackle, and why Wirfs is the only player in NFL history to become an All-Pro at two positions.

The second-best athlete along the offensive line is center Graham Barton, who played left tackle for three seasons at Duke. He earned a 9.99 RAS (Realtive Athletic Score), which ranked him as the third-most athletic guard to come out in the draft since 1987.

So wouldn’t it make sense for the Bucs to move Barton to left tackle to replace Tristan Wirfs at the start of the season instead of relying on journeyman swing tackle Charlie Heck to fill the void? I’m sure the Bucs will consider that because in situations like the one the team is in, all options are considered.

But typically, offensive line coaches don’t like to rock the boat and make one position weaker in an effort to make another one stronger. The reality is that Barton hasn’t played left tackle since the 2023 season at Duke, and he’s never played left tackle in the NFL.

Could Barton do a credible job filling in a few games for Wirfs? Yes, it’s possible. He has the athleticism, intelligence and competitiveness to play left tackle in a pinch for sure. If the Bucs wanted to go down this road, they would have ample time to prep Barton to play left tackle during training camp and the preseason.

Bucs OL Graham Barton – Photo courtesy of Duke

But doing so would come at a cost. Barton is entering his second season in Tampa Bay as the team’s center and this training camp will be critical for him to develop at that position so that he can make big strides in 2025 after some growing pains as a rookie.

I don’t think the Bucs would want to jeopardize Barton’s development at center just so he could fill in for Wirfs for a few games. Especially when the team might be able to get by with Charlie Heck like they were able to do with Justin Skule filling in for four games for Luke Godeke and one game for Wirfs last season.

Barton has a very important role as the communicator upfront for the offensive line. He and quarterback Baker Mayfield need to see the defense the same way and make the appropriate line call prior to the snap. That takes lots of reps in practice and in games to perfect, and I’m not sure the Bucs would want to steal the opportunity for that to continue to happen just to play Barton at left tackle for a couple of games.

Maybe if veteran Robert Hainsey was still on the team, the Bucs would be more inclined to travel down this road and explore a temporary move with Barton at left tackle.

Bucs Cs Graham Barton and Jake Majors – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs are very high on undrafted free agent center Jake Majors, a three-year starter at Texas, and he has the inside track on making the team as Barton’s backup. But Majors is a rookie and that would be an awful lot – having a rookie start at center and having essentially another rookie at left tackle in Barton.

That’s what offensive line coaches try to avoid and why they don’t typically like moving established starters from one spot to fill in at another while creating another void by doing so.

We’ll see if the Bucs explore the option of moving Barton to left tackle to fill in for Wirfs, but my guess is that they won’t.

FAB 4. Looking At The Pass Rushers In The Bucs’ First Four Games

At first glance, the Bucs’ 2025 regular season schedule didn’t seem too daunting. Opening up at Atlanta would be a challenge considering that the Falcons swept the Bucs last year, yet Todd Bowles is 3-0 in Week 1 as Tampa Bay’s head coach.

Then it’s a Monday Night Football appearance in Houston in Week 2 followed by back-to-back home games against a lowly New York Jets team and Philadelphia, which won the Super Bowl yet has suffered a pair of blowout losses in the team’s last two trips to Tampa Bay.

A 2-2 start seemed to be the worst-case scenario, with a 3-1 or even 4-0 record being quite possible. But that was before we learned that All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs had knee surgery and would miss the start of the season.

Now the start of the Bucs’ 2025 campaign just got harder – primarily because of the edge rushers Tampa Bay will have to face in the first month of the season.

If the Bucs place Wirfs on the PUP (Physically Unable To Perform) list, he’ll miss the first four games of the year. If Tampa Bay keeps him off that list, it would allow him the opportunity to be ready to play sooner and perhaps only miss a game or two if he makes a rapid recovery from surgery.

Bucs RB Sean Tucker and former OT Justin Skule – Photo by: USA Today

Last year, reserve tackle Justin Skule replaced right tackle Luke Goedeke from Weeks 2-5 and started for Wirfs in Week 12 at New York against the Giants. Skule faced Detroit’s Aidan Hutchinson in Week 2, Denver’s John Franklin-Myers and Zach Allen in Week 3, Philadelphia’s Bryce Huff and Nolan Smith in Week 4, Atlanta’s Matthew Judon in Week 4, and New York’s Kayvon Thibodeaux in Week 12. Generally speaking, Skule got better with each game he played and the Bucs went 3-2 with him as a starter.

Newcomer Charlie Heck, who enters his sixth season in the NFL with 24 career starts between stops in Houston, Arizona and San Francisco, is slated to replace Wirfs in the starting lineup. Heck took all the snaps at left tackle during the OTAs and mini-camp while Wirfs sat out, and that will continue in training camp and in the preseason.

Let’s take a look at the first four games and the edge rushers that Heck could face.

Week 1 at Atlanta

The Falcons spent a pair of first-round picks on Georgia’s Jalon Walker and Tennessee’s James Pearce, and also signed veteran pass rusher Leonard Floyd. New defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich could decide to throw all three against Heck in the season opener and see which one has the most success. The thought of Wirfs handling a pair of rookie pass rushers with ease wouldn’t make the Bucs think twice. But with Heck, it could be a different story.

Falcons LB/edge rusher Jalon Walker – Photo by: USA Today

Week 2 at Houston

The Texans have a pair of deadly pass rushers in Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. The bookend rushers combined for 33 sacks with Hunter capturing 12 in his first season in Houston and Anderson having a career-high 11 in his second season in the NFL. Hunter, who is entering his 10th season in the NFL with 99.5 career sacks, typically lines up on the right side of the line and goes up against left tackles.

Week 3 vs. NY Jets

Like the Texans, the Jets also have a deadly duo on the edge with Will McDonald IV and Jermaine Johnson. McDonald had a breakout season last year with a career-high 10.5 sacks, while Johnson missed all but three games with a torn Achilles tendon. Johnson, a former first-round pick who had 7.5 sacks in 2023, typically lines up over left tackles and will be squaring off against Heck.

Week 4 vs. Philadelphia

The Eagles lost Josh Sweat to the Cardinals in free agency and Brandon Graham to retirement. But Philly does have some up-and-coming pass rushers like Nolan Smith Jr., a former first-round pick, and Jalyx Hunt, a rising star, plus All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun, who can be a deadly blitzer. Heck could get multiple different looks from different Eagles defenders.

It won’t be an easy stretch of games for Heck for sure. But if offensive line guru Kevin Carberry can coach him up and improve his game over the next two months the way he was able to improve Skule then the Bucs just may be able to survive life without Wirfs for a couple of weeks.

FAB 5. Buc Shots

• Could – or should – the Bucs sign another offensive tackle with Tristan Wirfs scheduled to miss the start of the 2025 season? It might be a good idea, as an injury in camp to either starting right tackle Luke Goedeke or swing tackle Charlie Heck, who will be replacing Wirfs, would be disastrous.

The Bucs are high on undrafted free agent Ben Chukwuma, but he is considered to be a project after he only spent a little over a year playing football at Georgia State. Chukwuma is very athletic and has great upside, but he’s very raw and lacks experience. He’s not really a candidate to replace Wirfs as a result.

Former Browns LT Jedrick Wills Jr. and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today

Jedrick Wills Jr., Cleveland’s former first-round pick in 2020, has experience blocking for Baker Mayfield from their time together with the Browns. But the fact that he’s unsigned at this juncture is a red flag. Here’s a recent blurb on Wills from ESPN.

“Injuries have impacted Wills’ development, as he has played in 13 games over the past two seasons. He was also benched in 2024 for sitting out a game because of a “business decision.” But the 2020 top-10 pick has a career pass block win rate of 92.0% – which is above league average – and he could be viewed as a reclamation project, given his lower-body quickness and movement ability.”

We’ll see what happens, but I would feel better if the Bucs had another veteran option at offensive tackle. If this was just a rebuilding season with moderate expectations I could see the team rolling the dice with just Heck on board. But this a Bucs season full of high expectations and Tampa Bay needs to be extra prepared at offensive tackle.

• I hope you are enjoying Pewter Report’s 50 All-Time Bucs stories on PewterReport.com. We’ll be having another story on Friday (No. 36-40), and continue into the weekend with a few more (No. 31-35 and No. 26-30) as we get closer to the Top 5 players in Tampa Bay history.

The Pewter Reporters held a five-person mock draft this past week where we each drafted our All-Time Bucs Team. We featured these teams on Wednesday’s Pewter Report Podcast, so check that out when you have a chance. We also unveiled Pewter Report’s All-Time Bucs Team during the show.

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Pewter Platinum members, Bucs asst. GM Mike Greenberg and CB Zyon McCollum – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

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