A Buccaneers legend had stark assessment of the offensive line’s struggles. Injuries crippled the unit, impacting performance and trust.
One of the greatest Tampa Bay Buccaneers ever made a bold claim about the team’s offensive line.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield was a big reason why the team won six of their first nine games, and a big reason why they lost seven of their last nine.
“He didn’t trust his offensive line,” Rondé Barber said Wednesday on the "Rondé Barber Show." “You could see it. He was jittery. He was quick.”
In Tampa’s first nine games, Mayfield threw 16 touchdowns passes and two interceptions.
In the last nine, he through 11 touchdowns and nine picks.
But Mayfield had things working against him, and among the biggest things was health. Mayfield’s played hurt for the second half of the year, suffering multiple injuries.
Injuries also affected some of Mayfield’s top weapons, including the guys protecting him.
Receiver Mike Evans missed more than half the year, and fellow wideout Chris Godwin only played in nine games, leaving Mayfield with a lack of depth behind rookie Emeka Egbuka.
Then, there was the offensive line.
For new Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, the line is as good as any when healthy.
“When that group is going, there’s no offensive line that you’d rather have around the league, so it starts with those guys up front,” Robinson said during his introductory presser last month.
The problem this year was that the group was never “going” and needed to use nine different combinations throughout the season.
Three-time All-Pro tackle Tristian Wirfs missed the team’s first three games of the season while recovering from knee surgery, and in Tampa’s Week 2 game against the Houston Texans, Mayfield was sacked four times.
Wirfs then missed Week 14 against the New Orleans Saints with an oblique injury, and Mayfield had his worst passing day of the year, completing 14 of 30 attempts for 122 yards.
Three weeks later, Wirfs missed Tampa’s game at Miami with turf toe, and Mayfield was pressured on more than 23 percent of his passes and taking three sacks.
Fellow tackle Luke Goedke missed six games with a foot injury.
Starting guard Cody Mauch’s season ended in Week 2 with a knee injury, so the Bucs never played a game with an entirely healthy offensive line.
Tampa’s replacements didn’t fare well.
Michael Jordan (no, not that Michael Jordan) became Tampa’s starting left guard to account for Ben Bredeson moving from guard to center.
Pro Football Focus rated Jordan 74th out of 81 players at his position.
Dan Feeney took over at right guard and finished as the 67th-ranked player out of 81 at his position.
At left tackle, the Bucs had to turn to undrafted rookie Ben Chukwuma to start two games in Wirfs’ absence.
It was hard for the offensive line to find a rhythm, and after the Bucs lost to the New England Patriots Nov. 9, Mayfield let his feelings be known.
"(We) just have to be better on the communication up front on certain fronts, how they are going to twist off, how we are (identifying) it,” Mayfield said.
With Mayfield heading into a contract year, another snake-bitten season for the line could lead to Mayfield playing poorly and, thus, the Bucs moving on after 2026.
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