Tampa Bay

Buccaneers

With former Buccaneers WR Mike Evans now a 49er, Godwin is the veteran in Tampa Bay’s wide receiver corps. Godwin was leading the NFL with 50 receptions when he fractured his fibula and dislocated his ankle in 2024. It was a significant, season-ending injury that required an intense offseason rehab program, and his lower leg remained an issue for much of 2025. This year, however, Godwin’s offseason has been spent training, not recovering. A solid bounce-back season is within his range of potential outcomes, especially with the targets Evans vacated up for grabs. Godwin is currently the WR40 by PPR ADP. While he may lack the high-end upside he once possessed, that ADP sure looks like decent value.

He suffered a torn meniscus in Week 2 against the Texans. “Right away I’m just trying to get used to playing with a knee brace again, but I was talking to Ben today and it’s like, it already feels…you’re not thinking about the knee brace. It feels back to normal. It was a great day. I wasn’t worried about the knee one bit, so that’s good,” Mauch told reporters. We’re expecting Mauch to be ready to go for training camp based on this update.

Mayfield is in the final year of the three-year, $100 million extension he signed with the Buccaneers in 2024 and is seeking another long-term deal to remain with the team. Speaking on Friday, Mayfield said that while negotiations are currently ongoing, that he will stop those talks once training camp starts up, putting somewhat of a deadline on when a new deal could be reached. The 31-year-old signal-caller is entering his first season without Mike Evans, and is coming off a year in which he threw for 3,693-26-11 in 17 games. Mayfield is just two years removed from throwing for a career-high 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns, but a lot has changed since then between the loss of Evans and former OC Liam Coen. We’ll see if a new deal is reached before camp, or if Mayfield will be positioned to play out 2026 in a contract year in hopes of earning a lucrative pay day next offseason.

Well, that’s not exactly a fantastic update for the injured running back. Previous reports indicated Irving would not take part in organized team activities but was expected to be a full-go for camp, a timeline that now looks to be in question. The nature of the noncommittal quote from head coach Todd Bowles raises serious concerns for Irving in a fantasy setting, particularly for a team that went out and added another pass-catching, change of pace specialist in Kenneth Gainwell this offseason. Sean Tucker demonstrated a clear knack for short yardage situations in 2025, potentially sending this backfield into a maddening three-headed timeshare come September, with Irving’s lack of practice time potentially earning him a slow start to the regular season. More questions than certainty await early best ball and season-long drafters this May.

Buried in an article comparing Bucs RBs Bucky Irving and Kenneth Gainwell, Stroud notes that RB3 Sean Tucker “morphed into the Bucs’ short-yardage and goal-line specialist a year ago and led the club with seven rushing touchdowns.” Many teams employ two-player backfields. Stretching it to three makes things tough for fantasy purposes. Stroud does not definitively state that Tucker will again operate as the short-yardage and goal-line specialist, but he shares that tidbit just before forecasting a balanced approach. Tucker’s role in the rotation must be monitored closely this spring and summer — not just for his fantasy value, but for Irving and Gainwell’s as well.

Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud describes Irving as “the chair” of what looks to be a running back by committee with Kenneth Gainwell and Sean Tucker. We’ll see what the price range settles in at for Irving, but it’s hard to imagine him as a top-40 pick based on the past week of updates. The story quotes OC Zac Robinson as saying, “Shoot, one guy might get this amount the next week. They might end up balanced, feeling the hot hand, and we’ll see where it goes.”

Hurst has gotten much attention out of Bucs rookie minicamp as a true X receiver in the offense. Robinson praised the versatility of Jalen McMillan, Emeka Egbuka, and Chris Godwin Jr., but said having a true X receiver is “an absolute threat.” Whether Hurst is a legitimate threat as a deep target or is simply running a go-route as a “sacrificial X”, Robinson seems to like having the option of a tall receiver to stretch the defense. Hurst is still outside the top-three on the pass-catching pecking order in Tampa Bay, but could certainly be worth a dart throw with boom-or-bust upside running outside deep routes as an X receiver.

FOX’s Greg Auman adds that he expects Irving to be “full go” when training camp begins. This probably isn’t overly concerning just yet. It was reported that Irving had offseason shoulder surgery after playing through the issue late last year. If Irving’s absence continues to drag on as the team gets to training camp, the Kenneth Gainwell train will begin to gain steam again in 2026.

Egbuka floundered a bit down the stretch for fantasy managers after a strong first half of the season — some of that was Mike Evans coming back from injury, some of it was Baker Mayfield apparently playing through several injuries on his own. Still, based on what he did in the first half of the season, it’s plausible to believe he could challenge for a low-end WR1 fantasy ranking in his second season. Robinson certainly had no problem loading up his best receiver (Drake London) with targets last year.

Gainwell and Irving “can kind of match each other in certain ways with what they can do in the pass game,” Robinson said during a Tuesday press conference. Robinson praised Gainwell’s veteran leadership and professionalism and said he was a key addition to the Tampa offense this offseason after he caught 73 passes for 486 yards and three touchdowns with the Steelers in 2025. Only three running backs — Christian McCaffrey, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Bijan Robinson — had more receptions than Gainwell last season. Irving has been a highly efficient pass catcher during his time with the Bucs. Last year he ranked second in yards after the catch per reception and fifth among backs in yards per catch. While Irving is widely expected to be the team’s nominal lead back, Gainwell could be relevant in PPR leagues this year.