Being the best at one position in the NFL is extremely tough. Being the best at both is much, much harder, and few people can say they’ve done something like that — and Buccaneers tackle Tristan Wirfs is one of them.
Initially drafted as a right tackle out of Iowa, Wirfs won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers at that position and was named a First Team All-Pro there in 2021. He switched over to left tackle in 2023 and didn’t miss a beat, and he was awarded First Team All-Pro at that position this year in 2024 — the first player to ever accomplish that feat.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs blocks against the Miami Dolphins. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
That transition wasn’t easy, though. Wirfs has been public about how difficult it was for him mentally when the team informed him they would be switching him from the right to the left after the 2022 season, and he recently went in depth about the change on Ryan Clark’s podcast, The Pivot. He told the podcast that he had nightmares about the switch — quite literally.
“You’re your biggest critic. I’m harder on myself than anybody,” Wirfs said. “I remember having nightmares of giving up sacks, clean strips sacks, end of game — there were nightmares where I couldn’t take a pass set, just stupid stuff. I was like, ‘What am I doing?'”
Wirfs said that he suffered from anxiety and feeling like he wouldn’t be good enough during the change, and he saw a sports psychologist to help him get in the mental headspace of improving instead of thinking negatively. He also got the help of swing tackle Justin Skule, who he said helped him at a pivotal moment.
“It was the first day of camp. It was our first third down period of the day, and my first set was just ugly as all get-out. I crossed over, I punched with my inside hand. And I remember [Skule] in the back, he’s just like, ‘Calm down. You’re okay.’ I got that one out of the way, but that was kind of like a big moment for me.”
Obviously, things have worked out — Wirfs had one of the most dominant pass-blocking seasons we’ve seen in a while as a left tackle. Headspace is just as important as physical talent for an athlete, and it’s awesome to see that he was able to get into that right headspace in Tampa Bay.
