Not a lot has been going well for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as of late. The team is 0-2 coming out of the bye week, and the offense has mustered up a mere 19 points over the last two games.
It's been brutal football to watch, with even the stellar defense showing some cracks. The Bucs defense has allowed opponents to convert 50 percent of their third downs so far this season, and allowed Kyle Pitts to set up a game-winning kick in Week 7.
As rough as some of the edges have been on defense, the offense has been a total disaster. Once again the run game is nonexistent and is somehow worse than it was last season. Part of that has to do with what's happening in that room, but the poor play of the offsensive line isn't helping out much.
Outside of Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke, the offense line has been in shambles all season. Free agent Matt Feiler hasn't been the upgrade the team was hoping he'd be and Robert Hainsey hasn't been able to step up in place of an injured Ryan Jensen.
Perhaps the most disappointing player up front has been rookie Cody Mauch.
Ex-Bucs player slams Cody Mauch
Mauch came to the team as a highly touted second round pick this season, and won fans over almost as soon as he arrived. Where he was able to win with his personality, Mauch has been unable to win in the trenches and it's led to the lackidasical performance by the offensive line this season.
Former Bucs offensive lineman Ian Beckles has already seen enough. On a recent episode of his podcast, Beckles laid into Mauch and called the rookie out for not being any good.
“He’s not good. Fighting, but he’s not good,” Beckles said, via JoeBucsFan. "Now there’s film on and you’re showing what you can do well and what you can’t do well — seeing you can’t pick up a stunt. They’re exposing him. They’re seeing he can’t stop a bull rush."
This isn't the first time Beckles has been tough on a Bucs player he doesn't think is playing up to the level he should, but it feels like the first time he's saying it from a place where he hopes there's a change.
He’s not alone in that.
Mauch is still expected to be an anchor on the Bucs offensive line and an important piece of the core alongside Tristan Wirfs. He’s only six games into his career, and while things haven’t looked great so far there’s still time to figure things out.
That’s an uncomfortable theme, though, as Mauch wouldn’t be the first late-bloomer the Bucs are waiting longer than they’d like to develop. Logan Hall and Joe Tyron-Shoyinka are both former first round picks who have yet to fully pop, but there’s a heavier emphasis on Mauch figuring things out a little quicker.