Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Pre-preseason 53-man roster projection
Buccaneers Offensive Line (9): Donovan Smith, Tristan Wirfs, Alex Cappa, Ali Marpet, Ryan Jensen, Robert Hainsey, Aaron Stinnie, Josh Wells, Sadarius Hutcherson
This entire unit not only has Pro Bowl potential, but All-Pro potential. They should be the NFL’s best offensive line in 2021.
To start we have the twin towers of small colleges at the two guard spots. Ali Marpet of Hobart College and Humboldt State’s Alex Cappa form one of the best guard tandems in all of football. Cappa was one of the leading fan vote-getters in his position for the Pro Bowl in 2020, and it really is tragic that injury forced him out of playing in the Super Bowl. Marpet is an absolute stud and the unsung hero and key to this offense that makes it go.
At tackle, Tristan Wirfs is entering his sophomore season and is already arguably the best at his position of right tackle. At the other tackle is Donovan Smith. Smith had something of an up and down 2020 at the blind side, such as been the tale in his career thus far, but really came on strong down the stretch and had a solid playoff performance. He was rewarded with a two-year contract extension worth $31.8 million this offseason. Hopefully he continues on his upward trajectory.
Rounding out the line we have the center Ryan Jensen. He been an absolute rock and has formed a bond with Brady despite some rough patches in the beginning.
The Bucs drafted rookie Robert Hainsey in the third-round of the 2021 Draft, and he brings incredible versatility and the pedigree of a great recent run of offensive linemen coming out of Notre Dame. His roster spot is safe. Then we have Aaron Stinnie who performed great in the playoffs in place of Cappa, and Josh Wells, the only experienced reserve tackle on the roster who should make the final 53.
On the flip side, former South Carolina Gamecock Sadarius Hutcherson was signed as an undrafted free agent. There are always one or two surprises on every final roster, and the team is very high on Hutcherson, as evident by his play and contract with $130,000 in guarantees. He has a legit shot to make the roster, at the very least practice squad, but we’ll give him the “surprise” slot on the offense here.