Injury Panic Meter Spikes for Week 1 Availability for Bucs Starter

Training camp is in full swing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but they are far from fully healthy entering the month of August.

After losing rookie OLB David Walker for the season earlier this week due to a torn ACL, one other Bucs injury has an NFL analyst raising the panic meter to high for one starter’s availability for Week 1.

Bucs OT Tristan Wirfs Injury Panic Meter Lands on ‘High’ for One NFL Analyst

Tyler Sullivan of CBS Sports recently dropped an article detailing where a multitude of injured players land on the panic meter regarding their potential availability to take the field for Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season. Unfortunately for the Bucs, All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs had a panic meter reading of ‘high’ at this point of training camp.

Sullivan wrote, “Tristan Wirfs underwent surgery on his right knee and is expected to miss the start of the season, as reported by CBS Sports lead NFL insider Jonathan Jones. The Buccaneers star left tackle aggravated an injury that sidelined him for a game last season, and additional damage was found at the time of the surgery. It’s unclear how much time Wirfs will miss, but it does seem pretty far-fetched that he’ll suit up in Week 1. ”

Should Wirfs miss any time due to his right knee injury, this would certainly impact the Bucs’ offensive line in a significant way.

Wirfs is the only player to be named an All-Pro team at both right tackle and left tackle through the first four years of an NFL career. Since he is in the conversation for the best offensive lineman in the league, there is no real way the Buccaneers can replace him and expect the same level of production.

Despite some glimmer of optimism from Sara Walsh on NFL Network about Wirfs’ status for Week 1, Joe Bucs Fan doesn’t believe the Iowa product is going to be ready for the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons.

“Wirfs is on crutches after knee surgery early this month. He’s not practicing and there’s no reason to think he’ll be in football shape in six weeks. And in case you don’t realize, “six weeks” is 42 days, and the Bucs’ opening-day kickoff in Atlanta,” read a recent post on JoeBucsFan.com.

What Options Do the Bucs Have at Left Tackle if Tristan Wirfs Misses Time to Start the 2025 NFL Season?

The next man up on the depth chart is Charlie Heck, who is a veteran tackle who has experience at both right and left tackle throughout his football career.

Heck did start in 21 games for the Houston Texans shortly after entering the NFL back in 2020 but has been a depth piece for the last two seasons with the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers.

The Bucs could get real creative and elect to move center Graham Barton, who started at left tackle during his collegiate career at Duke, to left tackle and try either Heck, Jake Majors, Elijah Klein at center but the most realistic scenario is that Heck will simply slot in at left tackle while Wirfs is unavailable.