Cyril

Grayson Jr.

The Bucs waived Grayson after three seasons in which he played a mostly-rotational role. He performed well when forced into action late last season, catching six passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns over a two-game stretch. In Washington he would likely be a special teams contributor.

Per The Athletic’s Greg Auman, the Buccaneers could look to add Grayson to the practice squad once he recovers from his undisclosed injury. Grayson provided some depth for the Buccaneers last year, but entering his age-29 season he looks unlikely to ever emerge on the fantasy radar.

Along with Deven Thompkins, Jaelon Darden, and Jerreth Sterns -- these are wideouts that have been pushed out of the top five in Tampa by Chris Godwin’s projected early return and the signing of Julio Jones. Auman writes that Darden is “the favorite” for the sixth spot, and he’s projecting the Bucs to keep seven wideouts. It’s possible the Bucs could receive trade interest in some of these wideouts as the 53-man roster deadline.

The Bucs are also without Breshad Perriman. That’s on top of Antonio Brown quitting late in the year and Chris Godwin sitting on injured reserve because of a torn ACL. Tampa Bay is digging deep into their reserve at receiver for this game. Scotty Miller will draw the start opposite Mike Evans with Tyler Johnson manning the slot. Miller has big-play speed making him an intriguing DFS option.

Inactive for the opening round, Grayson sat out both Wednesday and Thursday, but he got in a limited session on Friday. With Breshad Perriman (hip) already ruled out, Grayson returning would be a positive for Tampa Bay.

As did Breshad Perriman (abdomen, hip). Were both to sit, Mike Evans, Tyler Johnson and Scotty Miller would populate Tampa’s three-receiver sets vs. the Rams. That is better than some teams could trot out down this many players, but far from inspiring.

Definitely trending towards the pessimistic side of questionable here, Perriman wasn’t targeted often against Philadelphia and the addition to the injury report explains some of the why here. Cyril Grayson (hamstring) also DNP’ed on Thursday, leaving Tyler Johnson and Scotty Miller as the main beneficiaries to go with the heavy load for Mike Evans and Rob Gronkowski.

Breshad Perriman (hip, abdomen) also missed practice. Grayson has been out since the regular season finale, and Perriman played 49% of the snaps last week against the Eagles. The abdominal issue is new for him. Tampa remains severely banged up headed into the Divisional Round against the Rams.

It’s another man down for the Bucs, who will already be without Chris Godwin (torn ACL) and Antonio Brown (quit) on Sunday. Mike Evans, Tyler Johnson, and Breshad Perriman will likely stay on the field in 11 personnel without Grayson available.

The Bucs starting receivers versus Philly will be Mike Evans, Breshad Perriman, and Tyler Johnson. Scotty Miller should also rotate in for some reps. With Tampa Bay forced to look deep into their receiver rotation, expect Evans and Rob Gronkowski to be peppered with targets in the team’s playoff opener.