The Tampa Bay Buccaneers want their offensive line to get younger. That push starts in the guard room, where nine-year veteran Dan Feeney is trying to hang onto a job he only won last season out of necessity.
Feeney re-signed with Tampa Bay on a one-year deal in March, according to the Buccaneers’ own free agency tracker. He’d started 10 of 12 games at guard in 2025 after the Bucs signed him off Buffalo’s practice squad in September, stepping in as the line dealt with injuries. Now the team that needed him is stacked back up — and that’s the problem.
Mauch’s Health Changes Everything
Cody Mauch started all 17 games in each of his first two seasons before a knee injury wiped out almost all of 2025. He’s healthy now. The Pewter Plank reports Mauch should reclaim the starting right guard job he held before the injury, which pushes Feeney back down the depth chart.
Ben Bredeson isn’t going anywhere either. The two-year Bucs veteran has started every game he’s played in Tampa Bay and is entering his third season with the team at left guard. Between Bredeson locked in on the left and Mauch expected back on the right, Feeney’s path to a starting job all but disappears before camp even opens.
That leaves him fighting for a roster spot, not a starting job — and that fight got more crowded in April.
Enter Billy Schrauth
The Buccaneers used a fifth-round pick on Notre Dame guard Billy Schrauth, a 6-foot-5, 310-pound blocker who started 22 games in college at both guard spots. The Pewter Plank flagged him as a developmental piece who could push for reps early.
Bucs assistant general manager John Spytek’s front office made the intent clear at the time of the pick. Player personnel director Rob McCartney described the plan without pretending Schrauth would walk into a starting job as a rookie: the team wants him competing for backup jobs against the guards already on the roster, letting camp sort out where he lands.
That’s the collision course. Schrauth isn’t walking Feeney out the door by beating him for a starting job — nobody expects that in year one. He’s a threat because a fifth-round pick with size, athleticism and positional versatility is exactly the kind of player teams keep over a journeyman on a one-year “prove it” deal, if the summer reps go his way.
Why Roster Math Favors the Rookie
Tampa Bay’s roster currently lists nine players at guard and only one true center, which matters more than it sounds like. Teams build 53-man rosters around versatility, not just talent at one spot. A lineman who can play guard and slide to center gives a coaching staff more usable bodies on game day than a pure guard can.
Here’s how the depth chart shakes out heading into camp:
| Player | Experience | 2025 Starts | Projected Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Bredeson | 7th NFL season | 17 (LG) | Starter, left guard |
| Cody Mauch | 3rd NFL season | 2 (injury) | Expected starter, right guard |
| Dan Feeney | 9th NFL season | 10 (LG, filled in) | Fighting for depth spot |
| Billy Schrauth | Rookie | 0 | Fighting for depth spot |
Feeney’s résumé actually helps him here in one specific way: he’s played both guard spots and center across his career, per career records that list him with NFL starts at left guard and center. If he can show the staff he’s a true swing lineman this camp, that versatility argument might be the thing that saves his roster spot over a rookie who’s still learning one position at the pro level.
Right now, though, the numbers aren’t tilted his way. Six of Tampa Bay’s nine listed guards have fewer than three years of NFL experience, and general manager Jason Licht has shown he’s comfortable building the interior line young.
What Decides This in August
OTAs and mini-camps don’t settle anything at guard. They’re padless, non-contact practices — useful for install and chemistry, close to worthless for judging who can actually move a defensive tackle off the ball. That evaluation happens in training camp, once pads go on and joint practices or preseason games arrive.
Schrauth carries one advantage Feeney doesn’t have: draft investment. A fifth-round pick gets more rope than a one-year vet signing. If Schrauth has a rough series in camp, the coaching staff is likely to chalk it up to a rookie still learning the speed of the NFL game. If Feeney has the same rough series, it reads as a 31-year-old journeyman who’s lost a step.
Feeney isn’t buried yet. Bredeson and Mauch look locked in as the starting guards, but the back half of that depth chart is wide open, and a strong camp from a nine-year vet who knows how to play multiple spots is still a real path to a roster spot. He’s just not the favorite to walk into it the way he was a year ago.
