McMillan has chance for ‘larger role’

That explains all the Ted Hurst from yesterday’s game. McMillan played just seven snaps and saw no targets. He enters Week 3 as a hard-to-trust FLEX even if he is healthy.

The Bucs are going to ease McMillan back into the lineup after he missed Week 1 with the knee injury. McMillan will take rookie Ted Hurst’s spot in the lineup once healthy, but that might not happen until Week 3. Until we see what their split looks like, neither Hurst nor McMillan should be in fantasy lineups.

This is a little surprising. The Buccaneers seem to be taking it very slowly as they bring McMillan back from his knee injury. At this point, he must be treated as being truly questionable to play. He is a boom-bust FLEX if active.

McMillan missed Week 1 due to a knee issue, despite getting in three limited practices during the week. He was listed as doubtful and the team ruled him out ahead of kickoff. It seems like the team was taking a cautious approach with his return from the training camp injury, and he should be good for Week 2. McMillan is expected to take rookie Ted Hurst’s spot in the lineup at X. Hurst managed just three catches for 36 yards in the role. In his first game of the season, McMillan will be buried in the WR5 ranks for fantasy purposes.

As is Sean Tucker (hamstring). McMillan’s immediate absence will force the Bucs to dig in to their young receiving depth earlier than they would have liked, but rookie Ted Hurst is not a bad fall-back option for the club. For fantasy managers, however, Hurst is not yet an option even in 14-team leagues. Also inactive for the Bucs are OT Justin Skule, CB Ayden Garnes, DL DeMonte Capehart, DL Elijah Simmons and OG Billy Schrauth.

In addition to McMillan, the Buccaneers are also listing RB Sean Tucker (hamstring) as doubtful, putting both players on the wrong side of being active for Week 1. McMillan was able to log a limited week of practice, so hopefully he’ll have a chance to suit up in Week 2 when the Buccaneers take on the Browns. Rookie WR Ted Hurst should make for an interesting dart throw in DFS as he looks to be in line for more work with McMillan sidelined.

McMillan is on track to face the Bengals on Sunday, but he is clearly still ramping up post-injury, potentially adding volatility to his Week 1 outlook. The Buccaneers’ No. 3 wide receiver is a boom-bust FLEX.

The Buccaneers listed McMillan as a starter on the official depth chart yesterday, which is seemingly a vote of confidence regarding his availability this week. McMillan is on track to play, but will likely be limited to FLEX status in fantasy, playing behind WR Emeka Egbuka and WR Chris Godwin.

It’s McMillan, not rookie WR Ted Hurst III, who’s listed as a starter alongside Chris Godwin and Emeka Egbuka ahead of Tampa’s Week 1 game against the Bengals. Hurst, the tallest of the Bucs wideouts, has by all accounts impressed Bucs players and coaches throughout the offseason and should have some kind of role in the team’s passing attack to start the year. It could be a while before Hurst takes on a more prominent role, however. Bucs general manager Jason Licht said last week that Hurst, 22, has “proven to us throughout camp, even OTAs, practice every day that he’s been very, very steady...it’s kind of evolved into okay, we can use him this year and he’s going to play a role.” Hurst can be stashed in deeper fantasy formats for now. McMillan is unlikely to be a factor in the Tampa offense after once again struggling with injuries this offseason.

Egbuka was working with trainers last week, but was on the field with the team on Monday. The Buccaneers won’t release their first official injury report until Wednesday, but it sounds like Egbuka is trending in the right direction ahead of the Buccaneers’ Week 1 game against the Bengals. Egbuka has been dealing with this toe injury since mid-August, but it seems like the Bucs have slowly ramped him up as of late. His practice status will be one to monitor when the first injury report drops. In addition to Egbuka, WR Jalen McMillan and OT Justin Skule were also practicing, while RB Sean Tucker was not seen on the field.