Major shoes to fill.
Bucs left tackle Charlie Heck may not have asked for it, but he’s got monster expectations to fulfill.
The biggest one is, can he make Bucs fans forget about Tristan Wirfs for the next month or so? Wirfs very well may be the best offensive lineman the Bucs have ever had. If he continues to play at the level he’s already established for himself, Wirfs just may be in the conversation for a Hall of Fame career.
Wirfs is still recuperating from his offseason knee surgery. He hopes to return for the Week 4 home game against the Eagles. But that’s just hope right now. At least he has shed both his walker and his cane.
In a perfect world, Wirfs told the Sage of Tampa Bay sports Ira Kaufman that his goal is to return for the Week 3 home opener against the Jets, but even Wirfs admitted that’s sort of a pipedream.
Joe spoke with Heck last week. He’s had an idea he would be the Bucs’ starting left tackle to begin the season back before training camp.
“All the work, all the preparation, is for \[today\],” Heck told Joe. So yeah, Heck’s looking forward to putting the hours of practice into production in today’s season opener.
What may help Heck is that, at least at times today, maybe during the entire game, he’s going to be squaring off against a Dixie Chicks rookie, likely James Pearce.
That may be trickier than it looks on a website, Heck told Joe. There is limited tape to go by to study for a rookie. And besides, Jalon Walker and Pearce were drafted in the first round for a reason.
> “I mean, once you get to this level in the NFL, everybody can play,” Heck said. “These guys are first-round talent. So yeah, they’re gonna be great players.”
Heck said with limited tape on Pearce and Walker, he sometimes went back to their game tape playing for Tennessee and Georgia, respectively, to get a better look at them.
Heck’s father, Andy Heck, is a long-time NFL offensive line coach having been with the Chiefs for the past 12 years. Joe asked Heck what his father told him and Heck laughed.
Basically, his father hasn’t told him anything about starting for the Bucs.
> “He’s locked in on the Chiefs,” Heck said, laughing about his father. “He goes underwater during the football season. He’ll come back up for air once over.”
Joe hopes the next time Heck talks to his dad, it’s about the Bucs going 3-0 while Heck held the fort until Wirfs returns.