Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Tristan Wirfs could push Donovan Smith at LT

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have found the guy who can push Donovan Smith at left tackle.

With Tom Brady coming in to lead the offense, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had few needs on their roster heading into the 2020 NFL Draft. They already had impressive talent and depth on both sides of the ball and were in a strong position to improve their overall roster. However, their need at the right tackle position stood out like a sore thumb and simply had to be addressed early in the draft.

The Bucs nailed their selection of Tristan Wirfs with the 13th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Wirfs is clearly one of the best offensive linemen in this rookie class and is the perfect guy to fill their need at the right tackle position.

Wirfs was a dominant right tackle in college, starring for three years at the University of Iowa. He showed an impressive combination of raw power and elite athleticism up front, shining as both a run blocker and pass protector a huge majority of the time.

Wirfs has the quickness needed to get off of the ball and get out in space to make blocks at the second level. He is also a mean and nasty blocker who can physically dominate defenders when he gets his hands on them.

The selection of Wirfs feels perfect for Tampa Bay because he is a natural right tackle prospect and they had such a massive hole at the position. However, he did play some left tackle in college and looked comfortable at the position. If the Bucs want to give Wirfs a chance on the left side at some point, he certainly has the necessary skill-set to make the switch.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will move forward with Donovan Smith at the left tackle position and while he has not been terrible at the position, he is an average starter at best. In Wirfs, the Bucs finally have someone who can push Smith. While the combination of Smith and Wirfs works for now, there is legitimate room for improvement if Smith does not take a step forward.