Bucs right guard Cody Mauch joined the Pewter Report Podcast on Monday, April 13 and revealed that he has put on more mass and muscle as he heads into his fourth season in Tampa Bay. The weight gain comes as a positive byproduct of Mauch’s meniscus surgery that sidelined him for the final 15 games of the 2025 season after he suffered a knee injury in the Bucs’ win over the Texans on Monday Night Football in Week 2.

With Mauch on injured reserve for most of the season and working to rehab his injured knee, he spent a good team of time working on his upper body in the weight room and getting stronger there before he was able to work on his lower body after he recovered enough after his surgery.

“I’ve obviously been doing all of this knee rehab and lower body rehab, but I’m excited for a lot of the upper body work I’ve been putting into it,” said Mauch, who revealed that he will be healthy enough and ready to take the field for the team’s OTAs in May. “You can’t really do too much right after surgery, so I had been doing a bunch of upper body [lifting]. So I’m excited to see the strength take over a little bit more this year.”

Mauch is listed at 303 pounds on the Bucs official roster, but that weight hasn’t been updated since he joined the team as a former left tackle out of North Dakota State in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

Bucs RG Cody Mauch – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“They probably don’t update that too often,” Mauch said of his weight listed on the Buccaneers roster. “[I’m] right in the 320s – like 320 to 325 is kind of where I’ve been most of the offseason. I’m going to try to see how 325 feels during OTAs.”

That’s up about 10 pounds from where Mauch played at during the start of the 2025 season.

“It’s more than I played at last year and the year before,” Mauch said. “Just see how that little bit of extra weight [does] – if it slows me down or if I can feel it at all. The more weight I can carry, probably the better to play guard, honestly.”

Cody Mauch Has Worked Hard To Reshape His Body With The Bucs

Tampa Bay drafted Cody Mauch, who played left tackle in college, to play right guard in an effort to take advantage of his 6-foot-5 frame and his athleticism. Mauch began his career at North Dakota State as a 220-pound tight end before growing into a 300-pound offensive lineman.

But in order to play along the interior, Mauch had to reshape his body the way that former Buccaneer Alex Cappa did when he made the transition from being a left tackle at Humboldt State to playing right guard in Tampa Bay. That meant gaining strength in both the upper and lower body to be able to anchor in pass protection and drive block bigger defensive tackles in the run game.

Bucs WR Emeka Egbuka and RG Cody Mauch – Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

When Mauch arrived in Tampa Bay he had a svelte and slender build as a rookie. But over the next two years he transformed his physique into that of a full-fledged body of an NFL guard, adding between 20-25 pounds in the weight room.

“That is the biggest thing,” Mauch said. “I just saw a clip that came up on Instagram of me in my rookie year and I thought exactly what you said – I just looked small. I don’t look like a guard. I looked like a tackle playing guard. That was probably the biggest learning curve of year one, was how much quicker things are on you [playing interior offensive line]. The anchor was the biggest thing I struggled with, but I really picked it up in year two.

“Going into year three, my overall strength and being able to sit in there and anchor and move guys off the ball, I noticed it too. I feel like a guard now. I think my rookie year I felt more like an offensive lineman or a tackle playing guard. I do feel truly like a guard and getting that strength or ability to anchor and all of that down. I’ve put on more weight since college so that absolutely helps, too.”

Bucs RT Luke Goedeke and RG Cody Mauch – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Playing at bigger weight with more upper and lower strength helped Mauch earn a 74.6 grade per Pro Football Focus in 2024, which was up from a 43.9 grade during his rookie season. Before tearing his meniscus in Week 2 at Houston, Mauch had a 63.4 PFF grade, but had to handle left guard Ben Bredeson moving to center for the first few weeks of the season and Charlie Heck flanking him at right tackle, replacing Luke Goedeke at the beginning of the Texans game.

“The first year is such a whirlwind and you’re trying to stay alive at times,” said Mauch, who is entering a contract year in 2026. “The second year I was so much more confident. The way I was feeling the first two weeks last year I felt like it was going to be a great year.

“The biggest thing was that I was so confident at the beginning of the season. And after having a good second year I took all that confidence into the next year. Now, for me, it’s just keeping that confidence going even though I’m coming off the knee and some uncertainties. Just keeping that confidence going and really pick up where I left off.”

The Bucs love the physical style Mauch plays with, and while he’s excited to be able to participate in the OTAs, he can’t wait to put on the pads in training camp and actually hit people.

“I am,” Mauch said. “It’s been so long. This is the longest I’ve been without playing football. It’s crazy … gosh, yeah. I’m ready. It’s been long enough. I’m just ready to get back and go again. Hopefully not going through this again. There’s nothing worse than missing out on time. Yeah, I’m ready to go.”

Watch the entire Cody Mauch interview from Monday’s Pewter Report Podcast by clicking here.