A noted Bucs supporter and friend of Todd Bowles thinks the Tampa Bay head coach and Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht are on the cusp of an avoidable nightmare.
Former Jets linebackers coach and personnel chief Pat Kirwan is the big-cheese host on SiriusXM NFL Radio. He’s at every national NFL event and grinds his way through endless film study of prospects and players.
This week, Kirwan and co-host Jim Miller, the retired NFL quarterback, are wrapping up their extensive team-by-team offensive line breakdowns and grades.
Kirwan loves and hates what he sees in Tampa. “It’s a bad formula,” he said.
The problem for Kirwan is he gives the Bucs a “zero” grade for their backups.
He pointed to veteran swing tackle Charlie Heck, a newcomer this offseason, and noted how Heck only had 87 snaps last season for the 49ers’ offense and hasn’t played much in years. As for the rest of the depth, Kirwan sees them as close to worthless.
> “I know they’re one injury away from a disaster,” Kirwan said before going into grumpy-old-man mode. “… I’ve been in the league long enough to go, ‘Oh, yeah, it’ll be great again. Nobody’s going to get hurt.'”
Kirwan went on to plead with the Bucs to sign an “old, lunch pail” offensive lineman. Kirwan thinks an addition like that could make the Bucs the best offensive line in the NFL.
As for the Bucs’ starters, Kirwan said they grade well enough for him to make the Bucs a top-5 NFL offensive line, but he cannot hand out that ranking to the team because of the backup situation.
Joe thinks Kirwan is off base.
Heck is bigger and very likely better than departed backup tackle Justin Skule, who had less experience than Heck entering the 2024 season. Skule had a brutal first start last season in place of right tackle Luke Goedeke, but he tightened his game up rather quickly.
Kirwan referred to departed center Robert Hainsey as “Hennessey,” so, well, Joe won’t go there. Hainsey certainly was a top-shelf backup and there’s no evidence that the Bucs have one to replace him.
It’s worth noting the Bucs have _plenty_ of time if they want to add quality depth to their offensive line.
Fans might remember 2015. The Bucs pulled an old starting right tackle off the street in August (Gosder Cherilus) and a starting veteran center (Joe Hawley) in September. And the 2015 run game ranked second in the NFL in yards per carry and Jameis Winston found his way to the Pro Bowl as a rookie.