The Bucs’ 2023 offensive line will look almost nothing like the one they ran out in 2022. This fact has been discussed ad nauseum. Assuming center Ryan Jensen is healthy (and that is far from a given at this point), there won’t be a single player at the same spot week one this year that there was week one of last year. While Jensen has been held out of the first two preseason games because his knee still isn’t where it needs to be, left tackle Tristan Wirfs and left guard Matt Feiler have yet to make their 2023 debuts because of their veteran status.

Rookie right guard Cody Mauch and second-year right tackle Luke Goedeke are not receiving such treatment. Both young linemen have been given significant playing time through the first two games as head coach Todd Bowles is hoping the game reps will help accelerate their learning curves. The Bucs are relying on both players to help improve a line that underperformed last year. How has each fared through their first 69 live snaps?

Bucs RT Luke Goedeke

Bucs RT Luke Goedeke – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Perhaps no player on the Bucs roster has more to prove this season than Goedeke. Last year can only be described as an abject failure. But Goedeke has seemed more confident this year moving back to his natural position and getting a year under his belt both on the field and in his interactions with the media. His play is improving with his confidence as well.

In the preseason opener against Pittsburgh, many thought initially that it was just the same old Goedeke. I was one of them. But upon further review Goedeke had a decent, if an altogether unspectacular game. This past week the challenge only got bigger as Goedeke faced off with two first-round pass rushers in Jermaine Johnson and Will McDonald IV. Goedeke held his own against those two athletic and talented pass rushers.

Per Pro Football Focus Goedeke recorded a 69.1 overall grade with a 73.4 pass block grade. He allowed just a single pressure in 16 pass blocking opportunities. Johnson had his worst game of the preseason while matched up exclusively against Goedeke. The former Bucs’ second-rounder wasn’t perfect, but he did find a successful formula.

2nd snap of the game and one of the true pass sets Goedeke had on the night. Absorbs contact and gets pushed back but is able to reset and recover. pic.twitter.com/RJSyi2li9Q

— Joshua Queipo (@josh_queipo) August 21, 2023

The Bucs drafted Goedeke to be a guard for a reason. His 32.25″ arms are almost two standard deviations shorter than the average for tackles. He is always going to have to win ugly against long edge rushers. But that doesn’t mean he can’t win.

Goedeke’s PFF grade so far for the preseason is 63.5. And before anyone pulls out the “He’s facing future garbage men in the preseason,” argument I have two things to say. One, the garbage men are some pretty impressive athletes. And two, Goedeke has faced a murderer’s row of “backup” edge rushers between the aforementioned Johnson and McDonald and Pittsburgh’s Nick Herbig last week.

Trying not to get my hopes too high, but it sure looks like @JohnOwning was right about another edge rusher https://t.co/fEiEBcFtNv

— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) August 20, 2023

If Goedeke can maintain that level of play for an entire season the Bucs will take it in a heartbeat.

Bucs RG Cody Mauch

The Bucs are asking Cody Mauch to do what Luke Goedeke could not last year. Move from a low-level of competition (FCS in Mauch’s case) to the NFL. From one side (the left) to the other. Move from tackle to guard. That’s a lot of moving.

PFF doesn’t have Mauch with the greatest grades thus far through two games. His overall grade is 53.5, which is below average. But the far more intriguing thing is how he has come to that grade. Mauch was known in college as a beast in the run game who would need time to develop as a pass blocker. I profiled him as such here. But thus far it has been the opposite. He has a 52.9 run block grade but a very impressive 74.5 pass block grade.

And Mauch isn’t just winning with athleticism. He’s showing a high football IQ in his pass protection as evidenced by this late pickup.

Neither player has been nails to start the preseason. But both have given some cause for optimism. And with so many questions along the Bucs’ offensive line, optimism is a welcome sight.