Bucs Beat: Searching for right mix on offensive line 
Coach Lovie Smith talks with rookie offensive lineman Ali Marpet and quarterback Jameis Winston during rookie minicamp earlier this month. Marpet looks to be penciled in at right guard. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS By Roy Cummings | Tribune Staff Published: May 16, 2015 TAMPA — The offseason is a time for experimentation around the NFL and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are spending at least the early part of their offseason experimenting with an offensive line in dire need of tweaking.The Bucs’ line surrendered 52 sacks last year, tied for third-most in the league. And the team’s attempts to rectify that problem go beyond adding a couple of potential starters in the draft.In addition to penciling in second-round picks Donovan Smith and Ali Marpet as their starting left tackle and right guard, respectively, the Bucs are shuffling some pieces along the offensive front. One change has last year’s starting right guard, Patrick Omameh, moving to tackle. Another has former defensive lineman Matthew Masifilo moving across the line of scrimmage.Offensive line coach George Warhop said the 6-foot-3, 280-pound Masifilo, a second-year pro out of Stanford, is the first defensive player he’s tried to convert. But he’s not the first the Bucs have converted.Right tackle Demar Dotson was a defensive lineman at Southern Mississippi until the Bucs moved him to tackle after signing him as an undrafted free agent in 2009, so experiments of this nature have worked in the past.Like the Dotson experiment, the Masifilo Project figures to take some time. But one thing Masifilo seems to have going for him is a strong desire to make this experiment work.“He’s hungry,’’ Warhop said. “He’s like a sponge. Every day he comes out here and he gets a little bit better. And I like the fact that he shows up every day and wants to get better.“I also like that he doesn’t shrink to criticism. If you say, ‘You are doing this wrong. You need to try that,’ he says, ‘OK, I’m going to do it.’ If he goes about it that way, he’ll progress quickly.”Omameh and Masifilo aren’t the only players on the move up front. The Bucs are also cross-training several potential backups or future starters at center, where depth proved to be a big problem last year.When an illness forced center Evan Smith to the sideline in Week 13 against Cincinnati, guard Garrett Gilkey was pressed into action despite never having played center.The results were disastrous. Gilkey was penalized three times and rolled a snap to quarterback Josh McCown on a third-and-goal play from the Bengals’ 10-yard line that forced the Bucs to settle for a field goal in a 14-13 loss.Now, the Bucs are preparing several guards as possible replacements for Smith, including Gilkey, Josh Allen and Jeremiah Warren. Even Marpet is getting a few snaps at center.“Ali will do a little bit in terms of snapping, but we won’t make him play center,’’ Warhop said. “Really, everyone but (left guard) Logan (Mankins), Ali and (guard) Kadeem (Edwards) are getting work there.’’Edwards is exempt from cross-training at center because the Bucs want him to concentrate on playing right guard, where he’s trying to prove he’s a better option than Marpet.It’s an interesting dynamic. Edwards was last year’s Marpet, a small-college prospect (Tennessee State) who wowed scouts at the Senior Bowl and combine before being drafted in the fifth round. A broken foot brought an early end to Edwards’ season, but he’s healthy now and the Bucs think he has the skill and athleticism to be a starter at guard.“Had he not broken his foot, he would have been playing at the end of the year,’’ Warhop said. “So whoever the best one of those guys are, whoever the best player is, will be the right guard.”