Before Bucs left guard Ben Bredeson came to the Bucs in 2024, he was a bit of a positional nomad. After getting traded from the Ravens to the Giants following his rookie season, Bredeson saw snaps at left guard, center and right guard in New York. He moved around the interior offensive line in 2023 before finding the proper spot in Tampa Bay in 2024.
Without having to move around the offensive line, Bredeson played the whole season at left guard and played well. The Bucs have invested a lot of draft capital on the offensive line in recent years. Left tackle Tristan Wirfs was a first-round pick in 2020, right tackle Luke Goedeke was a second-rounder in 2022, right guard Cody Mauch was selected in the second round in 2023, while center Graham Barton was the Bucs’ first-round pick in the latest 2024 NFL Draft.
The last position that needed to be solidified was left guard. And while Elijah Klein was also drafted last year in the sixth round, Bredeson was the guy for the spot due to his experience. After having to compete for the starting left guard job in 2024, he’ll be the Bucs’ starter for 2025 – and even longer after signing a three-year contract.
Ben Bredeson spoke to the media last week after signing his new deal and gave his reaction.
“The group down here – not just the O-line room, the team, the front office, the organization in general – is outstanding,” Bredeson said. “I absolutely love it. I was thrilled to be back.I love this place. It’s a great city. Florida in the winter time is pretty nice. I’ve absolutely loved it. Being able to plant some roots here and know that this is where I’m going to be for the foreseeable future, it’s unbelievable. It truly is a dream come true.”
Ben Bredeson Improved His Play By Staying At Left Guard
What played a factor into Ben Bredeson’s improvement was being able to focus on just one position compared to moving all around the offensive line in previous stops. The reps all became similar and familiar.
“It was huge,” Ben Bredeson said. “I’ve probably talked about continuity four times already in this press conference, but that’s the name of the game, really. Being able to just find a home at one spot and really work on that every single day with the same guys, I felt like it helped me a lot.”
Another benefit of Bredeson’s progression was lining up in between first-round talents in Tristan Wirfs to the left of him at tackle and Graham Barton to the right of him at center. He spoke about the value in jelling together with these top-level linemen.
“We spent a lot of time together, both on the field and off the field,” Ben Bredeson said. “I don’t want to say it falls into place, but when you put a lot of work in like we did…And like I’ve touched on earlier, they’re two very different players – you hit it as well. Tristan and I finding what works for us, and Graham and I finding what works for the pair of us.
“I don’t want to say it’s two different ways, but they’re two different players. It takes some time, it takes some jelling, [but] once we found that, personally, being in the middle of the two of them, I was able to work with each one and we found what worked for us.”
Bucs Still Need Ben Bredeson’s Versatility
While Ben Bredeson is very happy staying at left guard, he’s also willing to help the Bucs in any way possible. Tampa Bay lost backup center Robert Hainsey in free agency, so Bredeson is still open to sliding over to center in the event something happens to Barton and they need someone with a veteran presence snapping the ball. There were talks of Elijah Klein getting some reps at center, but Bredeson has much more experience at the position.
“I’d hope I’d provide a little bit of value,” Bredeson said. “It’s something I’ve always been working on throughout my career – being able to play the inside three positions. Having a little bit of experience at center, I would assume that would always help. It’s something I’ve always strived to do – be as versatile as possible. Like we said, playing next to Graham and Tristan … Graham is a phenomenal player and we’re happy to have him and he’s fit in with the room and we couldn’t be more thrilled.”
The Bucs had a top five offensive line last season. With the whole group coming back along with the entire offense with the re-signings of Bredeson and wide receiver Chris Godwin, it’s well within the conversation that this year they could be considered the top unit.
