NFL Scout Hypes ‘So F–king Talented’ Bucs OT Tristan Wirfs Ahead of 2024 NFL Season
Joseph Zucker@@JosephZuckerFeatured Columnist IVJuly 14, 2024
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One NFL personnel evaluator was thoroughly impressed by what they saw from Tristan Wirfs in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lineman’s first year at left tackle.
“He’s so f–king talented that, even though it was an adjustment early in the year and he had been dominant on the right side, he started to play at a high level later and was much better as the season progressed,” the evaluator said to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. “Super athlete, real light feet, broad, slides well.”
Wirfs was the fourth-best tackle in Fowler’s rankings, which are compiled after cavanssing multiple people around the NFL.
The 25-year-old spent his first three seasons in the NFL at right tackle with Donovan Smith entrenched on the left side in Tampa Bay. Smith’s release ahead of the 2023 season signaled the Bucs’ desire to shift him across the line.
Wirfs wound up making his third straight Pro Bowl and earned the fifth-highest grade among tackles on Pro Football Focus.
“Despite a switch from right to left tackle, he did not miss a beat in pass protection in 2023, earning a second-ranked 86.1 pass-blocking grade and allowing just 24 QB pressures across 777 pass-blocking snaps,” PFF’s Austin Scott wrote.
JP Acosta @acosta32_jpI don’t think it’s discussed enough how Tristan Wirfs went from right tackle to left tackle and immediately was one of the 3 best LTs in the game last year
Wirfs’ success is going to pay big dividends since the 2020 first-round pick is due to be a free agent in 2025. By showing he can be equally effective on the left or right, he’ll have maximum leverage at the negotiating table with the Buccaneers in negotiations right now or with other teams next spring when he hits the open market.
The Detroit Lions’ Penei Sewell just became the NFL’s highest-paid lineman ($28 million), and Wirfs will have a strong case to approach or even surpass that figure.
