Switching from one side of the offensive line to the other is among the NFL’s underrated tough tasks
Associated PressTAMPA, Fla. — Driving a car with the opposite foot or shaving with the other hand would be major challenges for anyone. “You have so many reps on one side and it’s muscle memory but then all of sudden you have do everything the other way and it feels weird,” said Wirfs, who was a first-team All-Pro at right tackle in 2021 and made two Pro Bowls at that spot before jumping over to the left side. But I’ve got great guys around me.” Wirfs, a first-round pick by the Buccaneers in 2020, credits offensive line coach Joe Gilbert for helping make his transition smoother. “And, fortunately, by the time camp rolled around, I was pretty comfortable with it and I’ve just gotten more comfortable with it all year.” Sewell, the seventh overall pick by Detroit in 2021, was a left tackle at Oregon when he won the Outland Trophy as the nation’s best offensive lineman. You have all that space to use, but then you flip over, you can’t really open your left side because that’s the closest path to the quarterback and now your hips are having to now be trained with your mind.” Several other offensive linemen have made the switch or been moved around in recent years, including eight-time Pro Bowl pick Tyron Smith of the Cowboys, Miami’s Austin Jackson, Pittsburgh rookie Broderick Jones, Jacksonville’s Walker Little, Tennessee’s Titans’ Dillon Radunz, Jets linemen Mekhi Becton and Carter Warren, Las Vegas’ Jermaine Eluemunor and Thayer Munford.
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