Last season, for the first time in franchise history, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sent three of their five starting offensive lineman to the Pro Bowl. The closest the Buccaneers’ offensive line ever got to that level of all-star notoriety before was in 2000, when both center Jeff Christy and guard Randall McDaniel went to the Pro Bowl.
Christy and McDaniel, both long-time Vikings who had just signed with the Buccaneers that season, had wonderful NFL careers but were nearing the end, and it’s fair to wonder if both were somewhat riding the momentum of previous Pro Bowl selections. Those would be the last all-star appearances for both veterans. Still, Christy would later start every game in 2002 for the Super Bowl champion Buccaneers, and McDaniel is now in the Hall of Fame.
All three of the Buccaneers’ 2021 O-Line Pro Bowlers – guard Ali Marpet, center Ryan Jensen and tackle Tristan Wirfs – were in the game for the first time. Marpet subsequently rode into earlier retirement but Jensen is just starting another long-term contract in Tampa and Wirfs is only 23 years old. There are likely more Pro Bowls in their futures. In addition, all three of those Bucs who went to Las Vegas for the all-star showcase last season felt that left tackle Donovan Smith was worthy of the same honor. And the team’s right guard in 2021, Alex Cappa, put up good enough tape to get a lucrative deal from the AFC Champion Bengals in free agency.
Clearly, the Buccaneers have poured a lot of resources into their offensive line in recent years, and that has definitely paid off over the last couple seasons. Smith was the second pick of the second round in 2014 and he is already on his third contract with the team. Wirfs was the 13th overall selection in 2020 and the Bucs paid an extra fourth-rounder to trade up a spot to get him. Jensen, as mentioned, has now signed two big-money deals in Tampa. The Bucs traded a fifth-rounder to New England for their presumptive Cappa replacement, Shaq Mason, and…
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