The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a pair of changes to their offensive line group on Thursday, prompted by a right knee injury first-year guard Silas Dzansi suffered on the practice field last Saturday. Dzansi has been moved to injured reserve and the Buccaneers used the resulting open spot on the roster to sign rookie guard Ryan Johnson of Youngstown State.
Dzansi joined the Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent out of Virginia Tech in 2023 but has had poor injury luck in the two seasons since. He earned a spot on Tampa Bay's practice squad out of his rookie training camp but later spent six midseason weeks on the practice squad injured reserve list with an undisclosed injury. He was reinstated to active duty on the practice squad in December and was then re-signed to a reserve/futures contract in January.
Because Dzansi was placed on injured reserve prior to the leaguewide roster cutdown to 53 players for the regular season, he is not eligible to return to the Bucs' active roster in 2024. He is the second Tampa Bay offensive lineman to sustain a season-ending knee injury during training camp, as the same fate struck veteran guard Sua Opeta in the first week of practices.
Though Johnson is in his first NFL season, the Buccaneers are his second team. The New England Patriots signed him as an undrafted free agent in May but then waived him in June. The 6-2, 306-pound lineman began his college career at Duquesne before transferring to Youngstown State in 2021. Last season, he started 13 games at right guard for the Dukes after drawing starts at both right guard and right tackle in 2022.
