Tristan Wirfs Begins Training At Left Tackle For Bucs

There are a couple of big storylines for the Bucs heading into the next season. Near the top of them has to be what their decision will be with All-Pro offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs. Through three years at right tackle Wirfs has won a Super Bowl and earned accolades of making the All-Rookie team (2020), first-team All-Pro (2021), second-team All-Pro and two Pro Bowl appearances (2021, 2022).

Wirfs has made playing right tackle look easy. But entering his fourth NFL season he’ll be in for a new challenge. There has been a lot of conversation of potentially moving Wirfs over to left tackle, which protects the quarterback’s blind side, to replace Donovan Smith. Left tackle is considered to be the more valuable position, and Wirfs has the athleticism to play there, having done so for three starts at Iowa.

Finding a right tackle to replace Wirfs could be easier than finding a left tackle with the athleticism capable of replacing Smith. The Bucs have been possibly linked to Tennessee right tackle Darnell Wright, who is projected to be a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Wright was the Bucs’ first-round pick in Pewter Report’s most recent Bucs Mock Draft 4.0.

No decision has been made, but in the event there is one, Wirfs will be prepared.

“Yeah, I’ve definitely been working it just in case,” Wirfs said of practicing on the left side this offseason. “I’ve been working both (sides) just covering my bases. I don’t think anything’s been confirmed. I’ve been seeing what everyone on Twitter says – so we’ll wait to till the draft, we’ll wait till we sign somebody, who knows? Whatever happens, happens. I’ll be ready. But yeah, I have been working it.”

Wirfs Looking Forward To Different Run Scheme

Wherever Wirfs is playing in 2023, he will be crucial to improving the Bucs’ league-worst run game from the year before. New offensive coordinator Dave Canales has talked about a commitment to running it, but it’s how the attack will be developed is what is most exciting.

Tampa Bay’s run game will be similar to what Seattle runs, which features a lot of wide zone and stretch running plays with bootlegs and misdirection play-action off that.

“I think it allows it to set stuff up,” Wirfs said. “We can capture the edge, capture the edge, capture the edge – and then throw them out the other way. Making it all look the same until it’s not. That’ll be really nice.”

Are The Bucs Playing With A Chip On Their Shoulder?

Last season’s 8-9 record with a Wild Card round playoff exit hasn’t sit right with a lot of Bucs players. Understandably, some might be playing with a chip on their shoulder this year, as many doubt Tampa Bay’s ability to win.

But Wirfs isn’t one of them.

Bucs RT Tristan Wirfs and Panthers OLB Brian Burns – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Instead, he wants to focus on the Bucs’ continuing to build a culture in the locker room and more importantly, be responsible. That responsibility can go a long way and lead to a couple more wins as well.

“If you want to say or think we have a chip on our shoulder, that’s fine,” Wirfs said. “That’s not how I think of it. Yeah, we won the South, but there wasn’t much to it, really. I think what we kind of want to do this year is establish a good culture – kind of let that breed itself. We want it to kind of affect the whole team and everybody be on the same page, and us to be a unit.

“We got a new thing up on the board that says ‘Attitude Breeds Responsibility.’ I think that kind of speaks for itself. Responsibility isn’t just going to come. You guys have heard me say this so many times – there are two things that you can control: attitude and effort. I’ve been saying it for three years, so if everybody buys into that, it’ll be really good.”