The offensive line for the Buccaneers is still going to be very good in 2022.
The loss of Ali Marpet is going to hurt the Buccaneers. There isn’t much of a way around that one. Any team that loses an All-Pro talent at a position is going to struggle to find a replacement, but that isn’t going to stop the Bucs from trying.
Tampa has a good history of finding small school interior linemen, and let’s hope that tradition continues into this season after the Bucs drafted Luke Goedeke.
Goedeke stands to be a quality left guard in 2022 that won’t rock the boat too much. The position isn’t officially his yet and this is a drop-off from Marpet, but there is still a good player here that will do a good job of protecting quarterback Tom Brady.
However, Goedeke is not the best interior offensive lineman to join the Bucs this summer. Shaq Mason is going to need a lot more attention before he is talked about an appropriate amount relative to his talent.
Some would argue that Mason and Marpet are on similar levels as players despite playing on different sides. Now, we wouldn’t dare talk down on a Buccaneers legend like Marpet, but it is hard to put into words just how good an acquisition this was with Marpet leaving.
It is also fair to say this would have been the best offensive line in the NFL by a mile if Marpet would’ve stayed.
Either way, the Bucs better get ready to start running behind the right side of their line, because the thought of getting a running back behind the likes of Ryan Jensen, Mason, and Tristan Wirfs is almost good enough to make running the ball seem like a good idea on this team again.
Shaq Mason is about to have a huge season, and it is perfectly fair to believe that he could end the year as one of the highest-performing players on the roster.
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