There’s tons of beef on the Bucs’ offensive line regardless of who’s in the lineup. Following a big shuffling of the deck ahead of Tampa Bay’s season opening win over the Falcons on Sunday, we learned how the sausage was made behind the scenes about that decision on Monday.

Speaking to Bucs head coach Todd Bowles, this plan wasn’t in place at first. When Graham Barton was placed at left tackle and Ben Bredeson moved to center, that was preparation for a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency situation. Then, Michael Jordan was inserted into guard at practice and it just kept on working. What was just a thrown-together idea soon became the plan for Tampa Bay in Week 1. And what a plan it was.

Details On Bucs Offensive Line Moves

Bowles went on to further explain the process that led to the new offensive line configuration, which was used as a result of All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs’ absence.

“When we gave [Graham Barton] a couple reps out there [at tackle], at first it was we were doing it out of emergency,” Bowles said. “[We were] like, ‘Hey, he looks pretty good out there.’ Then Ben [Bredeson] looked pretty good at center and then we just started messing with it a little bit. The more we saw it, the more it started coming into focus. When I first asked [Barton] to do it, I just said in case of emergency, so he took a few reps here and there.

“Then it got to kind of be kind of an emergency and he started looking better and better and he was firing off the ball in the running game. I was like, ‘Hey, we might be more physical with Graham [Barton] at tackle and Ben [Bredeson] at center and with [Michael] Jordan at guard because he had a good preseason. Nobody really wanted to say it, but it was like, ‘Hey, we probably need to do this.’ Then it kind of came into fruition.”

Bucs C Ben Bredeson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Apparently, several coaches were thinking the same thing he was thinking.

“Between me, ‘Carbs’ (Kevin Carberry), and ‘Grizz’ (Josh Grizzard), we all talked about it and we all saw the same thing, but nobody wanted to say it,” Bowles said. “So, I was the bad guy to say it, but they were like, ‘Yeah, he does. He does look very good out there…This is pretty good.’ And then we went with it.”

Bucs Had Some Familiarity In A New Look

The Bucs certainly had the benefit of experience when readjusting their offensive line. While Graham Barton is only a second-year NFL player, he played the majority of his college career at offensive tackle for Duke. It was essentially going back to the fundamentals.

There’s always versatility with Ben Bredeson’s game as he played center previously with the Giants. And Michael Jordan had 40 career starts prior to his 41st and first with the Bucs, all at guard. It’s the position he’s most familiar with coming into the game.

Bowles shared his thoughts on each player.

“I thought Graham [Barton], for the first time at tackle, played very well,” he said. “I thought [Ben] Bredeson did a very good job at center, especially controlling where the blitzes go and the pickups and everything like that. Michael Jordan played well at guard, as well.

“So, they played tough and they battled. You know, for those guys moving around, playing their first game at different positions, I thought they did a good job. Going forward, we’ll see.”

Bucs OL Graham Barton – photo by: Cliff Welch P/R

When a team has three players moving positions along the line, it could become hazardous. But after looking at everything in front of them, it was the best thing to do.

“Yeah. That’s all we wanted to do. We weren’t trying to do it,” Bowles said. “It started out as an emergency, but it started looking better and better and then it just [was] like we probably need to roll with this. It gives us our best chance to win.”

Will this be the same group for the Bucs’ when they play against the Texans on Monday night football?

“We’ll see what it is this week,” Bowles said. 

Looks like we’ll put a pin it for the time being.