Taxing The Frame
August 9th, 2023
Rookie right guard Cody Mauch.
Offensive linemen usually fall into two categories.
There are the giant-framed players, the guys certain to gain weight or look about the same size (only softer) when they’re retired. And then there are the guys that invest tons of work adding weight just so they can play football at the highest level. They’re smaller-framed dudes taxing their bodies to the extreme.
Former Bucs guard Ali Marpet was one of those guys, and the effects on his body are a big reason he retired early and lost a bunch of weight. Bucs center/guard Robert Hainsey almost falls into the category. Tristan Wirfs has spoken publicly about how hard Hainsey works to keep his weight up.
Rookie Bucs guard Cody Mauch, Tampa Bay’s second-round pick, is in the latter camp. And he spelled it out for Tyler Dunne of GoLongTD.com.
Dunne: You can’t invent an appetite out of thin air. To eat that much, you’ve got to want to do it.
Mauch: Yeah, and God, there’s times even now I don’t want to eat. Now, your brain is so accustomed to eating even when you’re not hungry. Because you have to do it. You have to maintain. My body should be about 220, 230 pounds. I’m 80 or 90 pounds more than I should be. So I have to eat more than I probably should.
Mauch is rather unique in that he’s a 24-year-old rookie, older than fourth-year veteran Tristan Wirfs. His body is developed and he’s got “man weight” filled in. He’s a plug-and-play guy.
Still, Joe wonders if Mauch’s body can stand his extra weight under the stress of the NFL.
August 9th, 2023 at 9:47 am
Can be done for sure and just unspoken truth about offensive linemen. Joe Thomas looked so freaking thin at his induction
August 9th, 2023 at 9:57 am
I think Mauch will be fine physically. Mentally though I keep hearing/reading that he, along with Goedeke, aren’t picking up the Blitz together and there’s been a bunch of free rushers to the QB on the right side. Hopefully they iron that out before week 1 or it’s going to be a long season regardless of who wins the QB competition.
August 9th, 2023 at 10:19 am
Keep blitzing them till they get it right.
August 9th, 2023 at 10:21 am
This year there were a lot of older draftees. COVID, I guess.
August 9th, 2023 at 10:29 am
Interesting to say the least Joe.
Makes me wonder about the health of these guys after football. I was one of those who could only gain muscle weight. No matter how much I ate I could only put on pounds in the weight room.
Go Bucs!
August 9th, 2023 at 10:52 am
This is why so many of these guys are dead by their mood 50’s. I remember the great Brad Culpeper, played nose guard at 300 or so, after retirement he was down to like 180, unreal. Can’t be good for you
August 9th, 2023 at 10:57 am
The story of this season will be the offensive line. The defensive is good to very good. The receivers are elite. The running backs are decent. Too much emphasis on the quarterbacks. The 49ers and Eagles have shown you can win big without a great QB.
August 9th, 2023 at 11:21 am
When is the time going to come that these guys admit to doing Performance Enhancers their whole careers to keep that weight on? It is so obvious but yet no one calls them out on it. You don’t gain 40-80 pounds of muscle in just a couple of years (in college) without the benefits of Steroids and/or Performance enhancers. Gimme a break!
August 9th, 2023 at 11:52 am
I may be wrong but if someone with more expertise can correct me, you are born with all the muscles you will ever have. You can not add muscle, but can only increase the muscle cell size. You can gain the amount of fat and liquid in your body but not muscle.
August 9th, 2023 at 12:05 pm
Light might have gone to the well one too many times with this one
Maxed out size and still not big enough to be effective inside
We better bootleg and waggle all game, this guy is going to live in the qbs lap all day getting pushed back and slapped around
August 9th, 2023 at 12:11 pm
Hey remember that guy named Ali Marpet?
He played at @ 315-320 or so…
Now he weighs @ 230 or so and has a six pack.
It’s just part of the deal and these guys all know what’s up.
No doubt in my mind Cody will weigh @ 315-320 next season… That good old fashioned NFL go-go juice will help.
August 9th, 2023 at 1:06 pm
Hes not a guard.
Hes a RT.
Goedeke was not a guard. And he’s not an NFL tackle.
Hainsey is not a center or a guard. He was a college RT.
3 wasted picks.
Wtf.
August 9th, 2023 at 1:36 pm
Culpepper was one of those guys too. He’s unrecognizable compared to his playing days.
August 9th, 2023 at 1:59 pm
@ teacher
Ali Marpet was a tackle in college.
Alex Cappa was a tackle in college…
Goedeke, Mauch and Hainsey – all tackles in college.
It seems like there is a pattern with our GM and at this point I trust his ability to scout offensive lineman.
Hainsey played OK last season at Center.
Goedeke struggled at LG but all rookie offensive lineman struggle in year one.
Mauch hasn’t played a single NFL play yet…
Let’s give the new guys a chance to settle in and then judge based on the game film they produce.
August 9th, 2023 at 3:49 pm
Obviously that’s not healthy for the body, long-term. But I think this is the norm for a lot of lineman, it’s just not spoken about very much.
My concern would be whether Mauch has already maxed out his size / strength / frame, despite being a rookie.
August 10th, 2023 at 8:33 pm
We suck