Bucs QB Baker Mayfield injured his right ankle on a QB sneak in the first quarter of Sunday's game vs. the Colts. He was able to return and finish out the game, completing 20 of 30 passes for 199 yards, two TDs, and one INT. But Mayfield took six sacks and was clearly missing his usual mobility. Neither Mayfield nor HC Todd Bowles would guarantee afterward that Mayfield will be able to play vs. the Panthers this weekend. “I’ll have to wait until he gets checked out and see how bad it is after the game once he puts it up. That’s going to be the tell-tale sign," Bowles said. We'll look for further updates on Mayfield's injury and track his practice participation this week. QB Kyle Trask would get the start if Mayfield is out.
WR Mike Evans led the Bucs with 82 yards receiving and a score in the Week 7 loss to the Falcons. The highlight was a vintage 40-yard TD on a go route in the first quarter. Evans finished second to WR Chris Godwin with eight targets for a 19.0% target share. Evans has now averaged 9.2 targets, 5.4 catches, 85.6 yards, and 0.8 TDs in five full games this season. He's looking like at least a weekly WR2 going forward, with QB Baker Mayfield's week-to-week inconsistency the only downside.
Bucs WR Chris Godwin led the team with 6 catches and 77 yards in Week 6. He went without a TD, though, and hasn’t found the end zone since Week 15 of last season. Meanwhile, Mike Evans, fresh off a hamstring injury, was held in check (4-49 on 10 targets). The Bucs square off with Atlanta in Week 7, when Godwin will likely rank as a WR3.
Bucs WR Mike Evans (hamstring) was a full participant in Friday's practice and will be a "full go" for this weekend's game vs. the Lions, per HC Todd Bowles. "Mike was full go," Bowles said Friday. "[He] fully participated. He looked good. ... He's playing." Evans is safe to get into Week 6 fantasy lineups against a Detroit defense sitting 29th in adjusted fantasy points allowed to WRs.
Bucs WR Mike Evans (hamstring) remained sidelined on Thursday. Evans is expected to test out that injured hamstring on Friday before a decision is made on whether he'll play vs. the Lions. Check back tomorrow for another update on the situation.
Update: Evans was officially limited in Thursday's practice. We'll see what he does on Friday and how he's listed on the final injury report.
Bucs WR Mike Evans (hamstring) did not practice on Wednesday. That's not a good look with Tampa coming off the bye week. Evans seems iffy for this Sunday's game vs. the Lions, but we'll see if he's able to get back on the field tomorrow.
Bucs WR Chris Godwin posted his best game to date in Week 4. Seeing 11 targets, the 27-year-old tallied 8 grabs for 114 yards. Mike Evans (hamstring) left in the second quarter, which helped Godwin garner a whopping 34.3% target share – well ahead of the next closest Buc (Deven Thompkins, 12.5%). If Evans misses Week 5, Godwin will become a strong WR2 with upside.
Bucs HC Todd Bowles said after Sunday's game vs. the Saints that WR Mike Evans "tweaked" his hamstring and would undergo tests tomorrow. Evans had a “mild but not significant limp” leaving the stadium, according to ESPN’s Jenna Laine. We should learn more about the severity tomorrow.
Bucs WR Mike Evans suffered a hamstring injury in the second quarter of Sunday's game vs. the Saints. He's officially questionable to return. Stay tuned for an update.
Update: Evans has been ruled out.
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.
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