There have been quite a few changes to the Bucs offensive line this season. Though that doesn’t mean Tampa Bay’s line is not still one of the best groups in the NFL. Ali Marpet was lost to retirement, and Alex Cappa left for the Bengals in free agency. However, it didn’t take long for the general manager Jason Licht to bolster an already strong corps.

The first domino to fall was re-signing Ryan Jensen to a deal that made him the third-highest paid center in the league. Next Licht used wizardry to steal right guard Shaq Mason from the Patriots for just a fifth-round pick. Backup guard and spot starter Aaron Stinnie was re-signed to compete for the open spot at left guard. And Licht drafted competition for the starting spot by selecting guard Luke Goedeke in the second round of the draft.

As we move closer to training camp, nearly every outlet is putting out its own lists, rankings, and tiers. I threw my hat in the ring recently, ranking Tampa Bay’s position groups and the Top 10 Bucs.

In A Tier Of Its Own

Bucs RG Shaq Mason – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Recently Aaron Schatz and Mike Tanier of the Football Outsiders began tiering the position groups in the NFL. Kicking off with the offensive line, the pair put the Bucs unit alone in the “A” category as the top-tiered unit in the league. Schatz went on to point to the analytics of why he had Tampa Bay’s O-line rated so high.

“So this is mind-boggling, and it does make me want to go in-depth with the ESPN block rate stat,” Schatz said. “Tampa Bay was only 22nd in run-block win rate and 19th in pass-block win rate. Now here’s the thing, they did awesome in all of our stats. Adjusted line yards, adjusted sack rate, pressure rate, blown block rate, both pass blown block and and run blown block as measured by Sports Info Solutions (SIS), Tampa Bay is fabulous. You want to talk about anecdotally, how people feel about his line, people like Brandon Thorn rave about this offensive line. Rave about [Ryan] Jensen. Rave about [Tristan] Wirfs. Yes, they lost Marpet but replace him with Shaq Mason. They lost Cappa, but [Aaron] Stinnie is not bad. I do not know what is up with those ESPN block-rate stats but everything else points to the idea that Tampa Bay has the best offensive line.”

While Tanier points to the way Tampa Bay has been able to draft players and get them to perform well quickly into their careers.

“The draft status of these guys, they come in and they perform well right away,” Tanier said. “Everything about them suggests this is an outstanding offensive line. They make Leonard Fournette look like a better player, etc., etc.”

Licht does a great job identifying offensive lineman in the draft. But the coaching staff consisting of Harold Goodwin and Joe Gilbert deserves credit as well. The complete makeup of the 2022 O-line is still unknown due to the ongoing battle at left guard. Whoever wins will join and already stellar group to solidify one of the best units in the league.