The offensive line the Bucs will field in 2023 comes with plenty of questions.

But according to new offensive coordinator Dave Canales, it also has plenty of talent.

Tampa Bay’s offensive line will not feature a single starter playing where he played a year ago. All five offensive line positions will be manned by somebody new.

Ryan Jensen returns to man the center spot and replace Robert Hainsey after missing all of the 2022 regular season with a severely injured knee. All-Pro Tristan Wirfs moves from right tackle to left tackle to replace Donovan Smith, who was released this offseason. Luke Goedeke moves from left guard, where he struggled mightily as a rookie, to right tackle, which is where he played in college.

Replacing Goedeke at left guard will be veteran newcomer Matt Feiler. He struggled last year with the Los Angeles Chargers and is looking to bounce back with a change of scenery.

The Bucs traded Shaq Mason to Houston after one year and drafted Cody Mauch from North Dakota State in the second round. Mauch is making the transition from an FCS school to the NFL and from playing left tackle to right guard.

Sometimes change can be welcome, and the Bucs hope that’s the case with their offensive line, which underachieved last year.

Dave Canales Loves The Talent Along Tampa Bay’s Offensive Line

Bucs OC Dave Canales – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“The offensive line – I say this in my 13 years in Seattle – you know this line that we’re assembling right now with Ryan Jensen, and Cody at right guard, it will be the best offensive line that I’ve been around player-for-player,” Canales said on a summer edition of the Pewter Report Podcast. “We had some pretty good ones in Seattle, but this is really special.”

All-Pro left tackle Walter Jones and All-Pro guard Steve Hutchinson were gone by the time Canales arrived in Seattle as the team’s wide receivers coach, but he was able to be a part of Seahawks teams that had Pro Bowlers in left tackle Russell Okung (2012), center Max Unger (2012, 2013), left tackle Duane Brown (2017, 2021).

Seattle’s offensive lines have been maligned in recent years over the less-than-stellar pass protection of quarterback Russell Wilson. But last year’s offensive line, which featured a pair of rookie tackles in Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas, was good enough to produce a 4,000-yard Pro Bowl passer in Geno Smith, a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf and a 1,000-yard rusher in Kenneth Walker III.

The Bucs are trying to replicate the Seahawks’ vaunted running game, which is based on a mid-zone and wide-zone scheme and is incredibly efficient. The top four rushers last year in Seattle, including Smith, all averaged 4.6 yards per carry or better. Seattle averaged 4.8 yards on the ground as a whole.

Canales talked with the Pewter Reporters about what makes Seattle’s ground game so efficient and so consistent year-to-year.

Seahawks QB Geno Smith – Photo by: USA Today

“It was belief, and I don’t think our O-lines were ever as bad as you know some people might have tried to make them seem that they were – just to give to give them the benefit of the doubt there,” Canales said. “But it’s the system –  it was belief in the run game. You run to win, you play great defense and everything comes off of it. The drill work – having really just amazing coaches – Tom Cable and a bunch of great assistants, who are O-line coaches now in the league, across the league. They did a fantastic job of drilling these guys on all the little details.

“The whole individual drill work is a system in and of itself for the offensive line. So that was a tip of the cap to the wide-zone guys and knowing how to do it and plan it that way. And then sticking with it and not giving up on the run game, not saying, ‘Well, hey they’re going for ones and twos (yards), guys. I guess we’re just going to throw today.’ No, we’ll come around to it.”

Dave Canales Has Brought The Seahawks’ Run Scheme To The Bucs

Seattle ran for 2,042 yards last year, which ranked 18th in the NFL. Meanwhile, the Bucs logged just 1,308 rushing yards in 2022, which ranked dead last in the NFL.

Even when the Seahawks have struggled to run the ball, which is a rare occurrence, they still manage to average four yards per carry or more. In 2017, Seattle’s leading rusher was its quarterback, Wilson, who ran for 586 yards. Running back Mike Davis was second on the team with 240 yards on the ground.

“So I love to tell this story because in 2017 we had a couple injuries we were turning the roster over in Seattle and our offensive line – we had to kind of mix and match it and we had some patchwork going there,” Canales said. “We struggled to run the ball, and to their credit, we were still in the Top 5 in explosive passes that year. We ran just enough for the guys to get to what they were good at – so they could pass pro – so they’d hold up. We’d still throw the ball down the field.

Bucs C Ryan Jensen – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“They allowed us to get it out in a decent amount of time. Just finding out what their strengths were and what worked for them. Just figuring it out as a staff. Figuring it out as far as who our players were and what they allowed us to do. Hopefully we’ll do the same thing here.”

The good news for the Bucs is that Canales and head coach Todd Bowles have already settled on the most talented starting five as the starting lineup. Because developing chemistry and consistency along the offensive line is paramount, the Bucs won’t have an open competition or a revolving door at positions like guard or right tackle.

If Goedeke, Mauch or Feiler struggle, the Bucs can make a change along the way. But until then, the offensive line will be a cohesive unit through training camp and the preseason. Canales hopes and expects the O-line to be equally adept at run blocking and pass protection, but that will be determined in August.

“We’ll play to their strengths,” Canales said. “We have a massive left side, guys. We’re massive. And our right side, nobody’s faster and angrier than our right side. And nobody is redder in the middle (with gingers like Jensen and Mauch). So that’s true. Really cool parts of our line that I’m excited about.”

Watch Dave Canales On The Pewter Report Podcast

Check out the recent Pewter Report Podcast with Special Guest: Bucs OC Dave Canales by clicking the link below.