Bucs RT Luke Goedeke Faces New Challenge vs. Saints

Add to that Goedeke’s nasty demeanor as a run blocker and he started his sophomore season off well.

Luke Goedeke vs. The Bears

Against Chicago, Luke Goedeke faced off against Yannick Ngakoue just sparingly as Ngakoue was often lined up on the right side of the defense against Tristan Wirfs for most of the day. Most of the reps he received against the Bears most talented defensive end were during run plays where Goedeke won with power against Ngakoue’s indifference to contributing in that facet of the game.

Goedeke faced varying challenges against the Bears including stunts, twists, loops, speed rushes up the arc and the occasional bull rush. None of it phased the young lineman as he had a clean game allowing zero pressures.

Luke Goedeke vs. Philadelphia

Week 3 was Goedeke’s toughest matchup as he would be asked to face off against both the speed of Haason Reddick as well as the power of Brandon Graham. While the Bucs second-year tackle wasn’t perfect against the vaunted Eagles pass rush, he was hardly a liability.

Goedeke was routinely challenged with speed, power and a whole lot of rips. But under duress he rarely wilted. His single greatest strength at this point in his career looks to be his ability to recover after a defender makes their initial move.

Against power he will absorb contact and give up ground before sinking his hips and anchoring. Against speed/bend attacks that try to break his outside shoulder Goedeke will often let the rusher think he’s gotten the corner where he starts to execute a rip move only to be escorted up the arc by the Bucs right tackle who refuses to unlatch his powerful outside hand.

While recovery isn’t the exactly the trait I would be looking for as the calling card for an offensive lineman, Goedeke is making it work against some of the better pass rushers in the NFL. However, Goedeke is starting to catch the eye of some big-time offensive line evaluators in the space such as Brandon Thorn of Trench Warfare.

Thorn has high praise for Goedeke, going on to say in a reply to NFL analyst Nate Tice also praising Goedeke, “That core strength/ability to maintain his center of gravity on & through contact from college is really transferring well. Seems to be getting more and more comfortable with the finest aspects of the position with time too. I’m starting to better understand the rationale for moving a perennial All-Pro to accommodate him as the season wears on.”

Bucs RT Will Face New Test On Sunday

With 112 career sacks, no pass rusher Luke Goedeke has faced thus far can compare to the resume Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan has. And at 34 years old, Jordan is still a high-quality player in the NFL. He will test Goedeke in ways he has not been tested to date.

Jordan bases his game off of winning with power and hand-fighting. These are two areas Goedeke has not shown to be great at as of yet. And Jordan is a very cerebral player who will adapt his pass rush plan to the competitor in front of him, learning as the game goes on what works and what doesn’t.

Jordan is the A.I. we all fear will take over one day. He broke down his play in an excellent film session with Ron Jaworski and Brian Baldinger a few years back for NFL.com.

Luke Goedeke Will Be A ‘Key’ To Victory

If the Bucs are going to win against the Saints to keep pace in the NFC South their offensive line will need to step up and play better than they did last week. Luke Goedeke will be an important part of that plan as his battle with Cameron Jordan will determine how the Bucs pass game will fair. But as the young tackle has shown so far, he may be up for the challenge.