“I’ve Been Hearing That For I Don’t Know How Long”
August 8th, 2020
Bucs right tackle Tristan Wirfs
Manbeast Bucs rookie tackle Tristan Wirfs seems to agree with the assessment that he’s not a relentless, punishing finisher on the field.
According to Wirfs’ comments at the NFL Scouting Combine, that evaluation comes from NFL teams, not the wannabe draft gurus on every corner of the Internet.
“Some teams said they want me to finish more,” Wirfs told media in Indianapolis. “And some teams said they want me to be meaner, which, you know, I’ve been hearing that for I don’t know how long. I can try to be a little bit meaner. We’ll see. … I think they just want to see me get more pancakes.”
Nice or mean, it doesn’t matter much as long as Wirfs does his job. However, finishing hard can be important on the offensive line. It’s not always about a specific play, but about the cumulative mental and physical wear on an opponent. That kind of stuff can matter in the fourth quarter.
Joe is sure Bucs officials want Wirfs to improve a little on the angry, tough-guy front. And Joe’s very curious to see how Bucco Bruce Arians goes about making that happen.
Will he privately ask one of his edge rushers to play through the whistle a little more than usual on Wirfs during training camp? That could be dicey with Jason Pierre-Paul recovering from a knee injury and Shaq Barrett more of a beat-you-with-smarts-and-speed guy.
Departed Carl Nassib would have been perfect to work on toughening up Wirfs. Joe suspects Anthony Nelson, Wirfs’ former teammate at Iowa, is a poor fit for that assignment.
Perhaps there’s a camp-meat guy with the right size and mentality to square up with Wirfs over and over and over in 1-on-1 drills?
Joe was intrigued to hear Wirfs say that he’s heard about coaches wanting him to finish plays harder for many years. Then why didn’t he just play tougher?
It’ll be interesting to see if the finishing part of Wirfs’ game matures at the pro level. Joe is not saying it has to. Wirfs certainly can be a good without it, but maybe not great for a No. 13 overall pick.
August 8th, 2020 at 7:06 pm
Interesting
August 8th, 2020 at 8:04 pm
he’s been hearing that for years huh, maybe that is why out of the what was it the big 4 tackles he slipped all the way to tampa? food for thought something to ponder, anyway’s he’s going to find out that jumping out the swimming pool is much easier than blocking jj watt, nick or joey bosa, yada yada yada, i’m pulling for ya tristan hope you become a beast
August 8th, 2020 at 8:11 pm
Well for Christ sake’s…… don’t let him talk to Ol’ Softie 93 anymore!
August 8th, 2020 at 8:12 pm
As long as he ‘very nicely’ doesn’t let anyone past him on passing downs, and ‘very nicely’ moves his man out of the way of our running backs on running plays…
I’m good with that.
August 8th, 2020 at 8:15 pm
This ain’t the Big Ten and Iowa any longer young man. Time to get a wee bit nastier!
August 8th, 2020 at 8:17 pm
Silly waste of time trying to make him “meaner” … he needs to focus completely on his assignment on each play! His aggression can come after he knows what he is doing without even thinking about it
August 8th, 2020 at 8:35 pm
Well, based in his tape at Iowa I’d say the message got through at least a little bit. Wirfs was a damn good finisher in the run game.
August 8th, 2020 at 8:42 pm
Give me a break on this. Two if possible. You know what ‘playing nasty’ gets you these days with the current rules? 15 yards. Long as he opens holes on running plays and keeps the QB from getting slammed to the ground, I don’t care what his personality is.
August 8th, 2020 at 9:05 pm
He will have some vets to show him the ropes. Ryan Jensen to me is the best finisher at center in the league They will make sure Tristan is doing his job and coming correct.
August 8th, 2020 at 9:18 pm
I don’t care if he smiles and makes dinner plans with the opponent as long as he holds the block.
August 8th, 2020 at 9:27 pm
In a fight I rarely fear someone who talks. Means they don’t want to fight.
August 8th, 2020 at 9:33 pm
Sounds like a carbon copy of our LT.
August 8th, 2020 at 9:47 pm
Dude is a mad man in the weight room. And pool.
August 8th, 2020 at 10:07 pm
Wirfs was a state champion wrestler in high school and wrestled for the BEST wrestling college (Iowa) in the US. I don’t think he is a softy. His leverage is superior and he was enough power to pancake the biggest DE.
August 8th, 2020 at 10:44 pm
I haven’t been this excited about an offensive lineman since Paul Gruber. I pray he’s at least 90% as good, but I think he may be better. Time will tell.
August 8th, 2020 at 11:42 pm
AlabamaBF – exactly! Nothing to see here.
In BA I Trust!
August 8th, 2020 at 11:50 pm
It seems the same sentiments of finishing plays that are being said about Wirfs is exactly the same things said about Donovan Smith when entering the draft. Although Smith appears to have gotten a little better he does at least stay healthy. I wonder if saving himself from physical contact in the run game actually has contributed to his longevity? Let’s just hope that Wirfs progresses further in his development and threatens to supplant Smith at LT in the future. But for now get that RT position squared away. We need all hands on deck.
Go Bucs!
August 9th, 2020 at 3:38 am
Apart from Jensen and Cappa, the rest of the OL are a bunch of “golly gee” personalities. Just be effective and finish the block till the whistle or someone else is gonna come for your lunch money. If you don’t finish, then your personality will be a problem for everyone.
Look at the Lightning, they got a little meaner and it DOES make a difference against the more physical teams. Sports is at least as much mental as it is physical. Impose your will and wear out the opponent in more ways than one.
August 9th, 2020 at 7:28 am
I don’t remember Mayberry and Gruber chewing nails either and they were pretty damn good. As long as he gets the job done well and doesn’t half a$$ a play (ya, that guy) here and there, I don’t care how mean he is.
August 9th, 2020 at 8:33 am
I don’t remember hearing about how terrifying and mean Willie Roaf or Jonathan Ogden we’re on the field. Only read about how they totally dominated the man across from them.
Tristan doesn’t need to be mean. Just needs to physically dominate play in and play out.
Everybody acts like all players are foaming at the mouth and talking trash during and after every play. Physical and mental ability above all.
I don’t care if you’re comparing crochet plans on the field, are you a dominate player every down?
August 9th, 2020 at 8:50 am
I thought Zack was the manbeast?
August 9th, 2020 at 9:19 am
Aside from Cappa who will be a third year pro, we have a good group of vets to show him the way. One of them, Jensen, who seems like the nicest guy in the world off the field should set a good example for him. I’m not worried.
August 9th, 2020 at 9:21 am
Then there’s Brady. No one will not be finishing blocks without hearing it from the old man.
August 9th, 2020 at 9:43 am
He will feed off Jensen. The entire line fed off Jensen. The entire line used to feed off of ….crap, was it Makins? He wasn’t super mean but he was all business and it spread across the line. They all follow Jensens lead especially now that they have to block for Brady. Not worried.
August 9th, 2020 at 10:27 am
Casual fans forget the greatest Buc OL of all time, Paul Gruber, was not a “nasty” player and did not pancake every player he contacted.
He was, however, extremely intelligent, athletic and efficient. That’s what I see in Wirfs.
And while wearing down a DL has merits, it also comes at a physical price of the OL possibly not performing at peak physicality in 4th qtr. Crunch Time.
I’m sure Wirfs, an outstanding big-time college OL, gets tired of hearing about it.
August 9th, 2020 at 11:01 am
There is other ways of being tough like playing with a broken bone. Or you could be that player crying with rug burn on you knees from artificial turf.
August 9th, 2020 at 11:19 am
Wirfs has the size, strength, and footwork to play the right side. Donovan Smith doesn’t have the greatest swing inside
August 9th, 2020 at 11:43 am
As long as he plays well and plays to the whistle I’ll be happy, he doesn’t have to be Jeremy Trueblood to be a good player.
August 9th, 2020 at 11:11 pm
You got that right, SB!
Can’t wait to see the young man play a couple of NFL games. Then I’ll have an opinion.
August 12th, 2020 at 10:56 am
I read his comment to mean that he has heard, for a while, about his need to develop a “mean streak” — and not, for any while, about his need to finish plays.