With the regular season right around the corner, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can finally start to put last year's collapse in the rearview mirror.

Tampa hired Zac Robinson to be their new offensive coordinator, made several high-profile free-agent signings, and drafted an extremely talented and exciting rookie class. All of the new additions should help the Bucs improve on last year's 8-9 record and catapult them back to the top of the NFC South.

However, even with all of the new faces, nothing will help the Bucs more this season than the return of a dominant offensive line.

Tampa had one of the NFL's best offensive lines in 2024. The Bucs finished fourth in the league in rushing yards per game with 149.2. That number fell to 114.5 last year, only 21st in the league.

Injuries decimated Tampa's entire offense last season, and the offensive line was hit particularly hard. Star left tackle Tristan Wirfs, who may be the league's best tackle, missed five games, as did left guard Ben Bredeson. Right tackle Luke Goedeke missed six, while right guard Cody Mauch missed 15 after suffering a season-ending injury in Week 2. 

Only center Graham Barton was able to stay healthy for the entire season.

Now healthy, the Bucs' offensive line can hopefully return to being one of the NFL's best.

Wirfs, who recently returned to practice this week after a hamstring injury sidelined him for about three weeks, spoke about his mission to make sure Tampa's o-line is one of the NFL's "best units" again.

Wirfs is seeking redemption for the line this season. He knows what his group is capable of and also knows they didn't show it last year. This year, Wirfs wants the Bucs' upcoming opponents to watch the tape of Tampa's line and realize they are in for a long day.

"That's definitely the goal to be one of the top units in the NFL," he said. "We want teams to turn on the tape and say, 'Those are a bunch of bad-ass guys that finish plays.' It's nice to have all of us back out there. We went through a pretty big shuffle throughout the whole season last year, but at the same time guys stepped up and came in and did their best and gave us everything they had. I think it's just a credit to our room. Guys come in and there's a standard we all want to uphold. We all want to play for each other. But, yeah, it's nice to have the whole gang back.

"The goal is always the Super Bowl; I think that's what it is for every team. But we ended with a pretty s****y taste in our mouth last year. I think everyone put in a lot of work. We've got a really good group of guys at the facility training. I think it's going to be fun."

Now that Wirfs is back and feeling great, the Bucs' offensive line is whole again for the first time in a long time. The five-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro believes they will get back to doing what they do best: winning the line of scrimmage, opening holes for their running backs, and keeping quarterback Baker Mayfield off the ground.

"I know we want to move the line of scrimmage, and I know we want to keep '6' (Mayfield) safe. If we do that, I think we're going to win some ball games. Let him go be the dawg that he is, and then let our running backs eat. We're just trying to be great."

With Wirfs as the anchor, the Bucs' offensive line not only could be one of the best in the NFL, but they should be. As long as the starters can stay on the field, Tampa's offense should be able to enjoy a bounce-back season.

Mayfield and running back Bucky Irving, who was also hit by the injury bug last year, each had down seasons in 2025. With a healthy line back in front of them, expect both to put up big numbers this year.

Tampa's offensive line is the engine for the entire offense. If it can return to its dominant form, the Bucs' offense should be very good this season.