Buccaneers WR Mike Evans racked up 171 yards and caught the team's lone TD pass in Sunday's win over the Bears. Evans tied WR Chris Godwin for the target lead with eight, catching six of those. Godwin posted a 5-58 receiving line. TE Cade Otton added 6 receptions for 41 yards on 6 targets. The Bucs host Philly in Week 3, an opponent they're likely to trail and a defense with multiple injuries across the starting secondary. Expect Evans and Godwin to land well inside starter territory in our Week 3 rankings.
Bucs WR Mike Evans led the team with 10 targets, 6 grabs, and 66 yards in the opener. He scored one of Baker Mayfield’s two TDs on a 28-yard downfield pass. The Vikings matchup looked favorable on paper, and Evans delivered with 18.6 PPR points, a number he hit only three times in 2022. Recent reports indicate Evans will likely play elsewhere in 2024. But for now, fantasy owners should continue treating him as a solid WR3. Next up is another favorable matchup (vs. Chicago).
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler confirms that Bucs WR Russell Gage will miss the entire 2023 season with the knee injury he suffered in Wednesday's practice. Gage was locked into Tampa's No. 3 WR job before this injury. The Bucs are now left with WRs Trey Palmer, Deven Thompkins, David Moore, and Rakim Jarrett to battle for that job. Palmer is an intriguing rookie and might be worth a look near the very end of best-ball drafts. Gage's injury should mean extra targets for WR Chris Godwin, WR Mike Evans, RB Rachaad White, and TE Cade Otton. We've adjusted all the Bucs in the 2023 fantasy football rankings.
Update: Gage suffered a ruptured right patellar tendon.
You probably already know that Buccaneers WR Mike Evans got a large fantasy boost from his monster Week 17 outing last year: 10 catches, 207 yards, 3 TDs. That game accounted for 21.6% of his PPR scoring for the season. And his 8-103-2 line in Week 4 against the Chiefs accounted for another 13.4%. Evans' downfield nature has always made him a volatile weekly scorer, but last year delivered fewer of the high-end fantasy lines. Evans posted four top-12 weeks in 2020, five in 2021, and then just three last year. He followed eight top-24 weeks in 2020 with 10 in 2021 but only five last season. And now comes a QB downgrade from Tom Brady to whomever wins the Baker Mayfield-Kyle Trask showdown. Even at Evans' depressed ADP, it has been tough to like him in drafts. See where he sits in our 2023 fantasy football rankings, and read more about why you should be wary.
The Buccaneers have reached a one-year, $8.5 million deal with QB Baker Mayfield, according to multiple reports. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport had previously talked about the Bucs bringing in Mayfield to compete with former second-round pick Kyle Trask for the starting job. We'd bet on Mayfield winning that competition. But the contract shows that they're not banking on him as a starter. Taylor Heinicke, for example, got a two-year contract worth up to $10 million a year from the Falcons. Mayfield played his way out of Carolina after his Cleveland exit. He gained some praise for the brief Rams stint but compiled just 6.6 yards per pass attempt and a 3.1% TD rate there. Mayfield is far from a lock for any meaningful production going forward. But he's interesting as a QB3 pick late in best ball drafts right now, especially when paired with Tampa Bay WRs Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, or Russell Gage. Gage has been going especially late. So you can potentially pair him with Mayfield using just your final two picks. Not much risk at that point.
The Bucs are hiring Dave Canales as their new OC. The 41-year-old has spent the past 13 seasons working under Pete Carroll, first at USC and then with Seattle. Canales most recently served as Seahawks QBs coach, helping QB Geno Smith to a career year. But Canales' only experience as an offensive coordinator came at Carson High School in California in 2004 and 2005. He's a total wild card as we start to project what this Bucs offense will look like in 2023. We're also, of course, still waiting to see what Tampa does at QB. Kyle Trask is the only QB currently on the roster.
Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin hauled 10 of 13 targets for 85 yards in Monday's Wild Card loss vs. the Cowboys. Godwin is 1 of 3 Bucs' WRs who received double-digit targets in this contest. WR Julio Jones tallied 7 catches on 11 targets for 77 yards and a TD, and WR Mike Evans roped in 6 of 11 targets for 74 yards of his own. These are pretty eye-popping numbers on the surface, but it's not nearly as impressive considering QB Tom Brady was forced to throw the ball 66 times in the loss. It's difficult at this time to look ahead to the 2023 NFL season for these wideouts given Brady's uncertain future. We'll have a better idea of what to expect from Godwin and Evans once we learn who the Bucs QB is next season.
Buccaneers WR Mike Evans (knee) was a full participant at practice on Thursday. The same goes for teammate WR Julio Jones (knee). With their Wild Card game vs. the Cowboys occurring on Monday, we'll have an extra day of practice to follow that bleeds into Saturday. We'll keep our eye out for any updates regarding this duo of Bucs' pass-catchers.
Bucs WR Mike Evans has been ruled out of Sunday's game vs. the Falcons with an illness. He was active but didn't play a snap. Evans should be fine for next weekend's Wild Card game.
Bucs HC Todd Bowles plans to play his starters, including QB Tom Brady, in Sunday's regular-season finale vs. the Falcons, despite the Bucs being locked into the NFC's #4 seed. "We can get better at a lot of things, so right now, we plan on playing [Brady]," Bowles said Monday. "We'll see how the week goes going forward, but we can get better at a lot of things that we need to work on, and we don't need our foot off the gas." Bowles added that he'll consider pulling starters in the 2nd half. We'd be surprised if Brady played more than a half and don't expect RB Leonard Fournette or WRs Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to play the entire game, either.
Before Sunday, Buccaneers WR Mike Evans hadn't scored a TD since Week 4. Turns out he was just saving them all up for championship week of the fantasy football playoffs. Evans racked up 10 catches for 207 yards and all 3 of Tampa Bay's TDs in the playoff-clinching win over the Panthers. Evans scored from 30, 57 and 63 yards out while setting season highs in all 3 of the aforementioned offensive categories. His performance overshadowed WR Chris Godwin's highly efficient performance: 9-120 on 9 targets. The Buccaneers close out the regular season at Atlanta but might not have much to play for in that one. We'll assess their situation in finalizing our Week 18 fantasy football rankings.
Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin hauled in all 8 of his targets for 83 yards and a score in Sunday's loss vs. the Bengals. While Godwin and company did not emerge victorious, the Bucs' WR corps had three players reach double-digit PPR points. Mike Evans posted a respectable 83 yards, bringing in only 5 of his 10 receptions, and Russell Gage exploded with a pair of TDs to go along with 8 catches and 59 yards. While it's difficult to tell week-to-week if Gage can be trusted, managers advancing in the fantasy playoffs can feel confident in both Godwin and Evans against the Cardinals in Week 16 despite the difficult matchup. Both are WR1 options vs. the Cardinals.
Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin caught 12 balls for 110 yards and a TD in Sunday's OT loss at Cleveland. Godwin's 13 targets led the team by 4, with RB Rachaad White the only other Buc to catch more than 3 balls. WR Mike Evans tied White for 2nd on the team with 9 targets but caught only 2 of them (for 31 yards). FB Ko Kieft snagged QB Tom Brady's other TD throw on his lone target.
Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin led the team with 8 targets, 6 catches and 71 yards in Sunday morning's win over the Seahawks. And much to the relief of fantasy football managers everywhere, he finally found the end zone for the 1st time this season. Mike Evans followed with a mediocre stat line on a limited passing day for the Bucs, catching 5 balls for 54 yards among 6 targets. WR Julio Jones claimed the team's other TD catch among 3 receptions for 53 yards.
Bucs WR Russell Gage (hamstring) did not make the trip to Germany and is out for Sunday morning's game vs. the Seahawks. Scotty Miller finished 3rd among Bucs WRs with a 52% route rate last week; Julio Jones was 4th at 35%. Chris Godwin and Mike Evans remain the only bankable fantasy plays in this WR corps.
Buccaneers QB Tom Brady went 36-of-58 passing in Sunday's win over the Rams. He tallied 280 yards and 1 TD, but that came out to just 4.8 yards per attempt. And his lone TD came with just seconds remaining to give Tampa Bay the victory. TE Cade Otton caught that score and totaled 5-68-1 receiving on 6 targets. WR Mike Evans led the team with 11 targets but managed just 5 catches and 40 yards. WR Chris Godwin followed with 10 looks but tallied only 36 yards on his 7 receptions. WR Scotty Miller tied Godwin for the reception lead and collected 53 yards. His lone missed target was a late-game drop when an end-zone pass hit his facemask. Tampa Bay heads to Germany next Sunday morning to face a hot Seahawks defense.
Bucs WR Mike Evans (ankle) isn't listed on the final Week 8 injury report. He was limited in practice this week but should be ready for his usual role vs. the Ravens on Thursday night.
Bucs WR Mike Evans (ankle) was limited in Tuesday's practice. We noticed him tweak that ankle during Sunday's loss to Carolina, but Evans was able to return. He should be fine for Thursday night's game vs. the Ravens.
Buccaneers QB Tom Brady threw for just 243 yards and 1 TD on 25-of-40 passing in Sunday's loss to the Steelers. It was a disappointing outing vs. a Pittsburgh defense that arrived just 24th in Football Outsiders' pass-defense DVOA. On top of that, The Steelers were missing 3 corners and S Minkah Fitzpatrick. Chris Godwin led the team with a 6-95 receiving line on 12 targets, double his nearest teammate. RB Leonard Fournette was the only other Buc with more than 4 targets. WR Mike Evans posted a 4-42 receiving line on his 4 targets. Tampa Bay visits the Panthers in Week 7, before home dates with the Ravens, Rams and Seahawks.
Bucs WR Julio Jones (knee) is inactive for today’s game vs. the Steelers. Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Russell Gage will be Tampa’s clear top 3 WRs.
Search
