Buccaneers offensive line ranked 19th by Pro Football Focus

After an up and down performance this season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive line has been ranked middle of the road by PFF.

Three weeks through the NFL regular season, and Pro Football Focus (subscription required) is putting out their positional rankings. In their offensive line rankings, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their front five currently rank as the 19th best unit in the league.

While their tackles consisting of Donovan Smith and Demar Dotson are struggling to start the season for the pewter and red, the interior of their line is floating their rankings. Ryan Jensen has looked much improved and worth his $10 million annual salary, first year started Alex Cappa has also been a consistent surprise for the Buccaneers, while Ali Marpet remains one of the top guards in the entire league.

In fact, Marpet (to no surprise really) is the Buccaneers’ highest graded offensive lineman according to PFF, with a grade of 76.1. Speaking of Jensen, who was in desperate need of a bounce back year, has peaked the interest of PFF as well.

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"“After a disastrous start to his Bucs career last season, center Ryan Jensen has looked well worth the money they paid him so far this season. He’s allowed all of two hurries through the first three games” (via PFF)."

This offensive unit has been clearing larger running lanes, as Ronald Jones already has triple the amount of the rushing yards that he had his entire rookie season; even Peyton Barber has increased his yards per carry from a year ago. As far as pass protection is concerned, the interior is giving quarterback Jameis Winston room to step up in the pocket, but pressure off the edge is concerning.

This offensive unit have quite a test as Aaron Donald, Dexter Fowler, and the rest of the Los Angeles Rams’ defense is set to host the pewter and red on Sunday. This will begin a seven week trip for the Buccaneers away from Raymond James Stadium.

There is room to grow with this offensive unit, but once you take a deeper dive at the unit as a whole, it makes sense why more running lanes have been found up the middle with the strong play of Cappa, Marpet, and Jensen. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how this unit progresses for the Buccaneers.