Not great numbers.
This isn’t to bang on Bucs right tackle Charlie Heck. But if you trust NextGen Stats, then it’s a good thing Baker Mayfield is mobile.
Joe remembers how Justin Skule started at right tackle at Detroit last year for the concussed Luke Goedeke. Skule was abused so badly by Lions’ star edge rusher (what are those?) Aidan Hutchinson, that Florida DCF officials offered Skule free counseling upon the Bucs’ return to Tampa Bay.
Somehow, the Bucs still won that game.
Interestingly, after that first game at right tackle, Skule steadily grew better. To the point that when he took over for an injured Tristan Wirfs at left tackle against the 49ers, Nick Bosa really had to work to get after Baker Mayfield.
And Skule improved to a point that Bucs fans were sad to see him go. Sure could have used him this year. (Joe doesn’t blame Skule for going to Minnesota. He had a chance to start there, which he earned.)
Joe brings this up because there is always room for a player to improve. That’s what Joe hopes for Charlie Heck because the numbers Kevin Patra published on NFL.com [paint an ugly picture](https://www.nfl.com/news/2025-nfl-trade-deadline-biggest-need-for-all-32-teams) of a guy who is struggling at pass blocking.
> The hope is that Luke Goedeke can return. In the meantime, the line has struggled to find traction in run blocking and left Baker Mayfield scrambling for his life at times. If Tampa had a more statuesque or less gritty QB, the offense would be DOA. Charlie Heck has allowed 18 QB pressures in three games (two starts), per Next Gen Stats. That’s … bad.
No, that’s not good.
Now the first question Joe knows readers will ask is, when will Luke Goedeke return? Good question. Goedeke left the game against the Steers in Week 2 and went on the injured reserve list. When a player is placed on the injured reserve list, he must sit out a minimum of four games, per league rules.
So the earliest Goedeke can return is the Monday night game Oct. 20 at Detroit. That doesn’t mean Goedeke will be available for the Lions game, but that is the earliest Goedeke can play per NFL rules.
Like Joe noticed before the game with the Steers, Joe saw Goedeke walking into the Bucs’ locker room moments after the loss to the Eagles wearing sandals. Goedeke wore no wrap of any sort or apparatus on his injured foot. Unlike when Joe saw him the week of the Houston game, Joe noticed an ever-so-faint limp.