Who’s Hurt At Receiver? Who Cares?
June 1st, 2025
“This is gonna be great!”
Very interesting point made by BSPN’s follicly-challenged NFL analyst. The Bucs are so deep at receiver that there is no reason to get all twisted up about hamstrings and sore ankles.
Billy Barnwell of BSPN simply marvels at the possibilities the Bucs’ passing attack has if healthy. If not healthy, so what? The Bucs have enough horses to still get the job done.
[Citing names] undersells how deep the 2025 Bucs look on paper. Chris Godwin was on pace for a 1,398-yard receiving season when he suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 7. He returned to the team after dipping his toes in free agency. Rookie wideout Jalen McMillan flashed in Godwin’s absence, and tight end Cade Otton even had a stretch in midseason when he served as Godwin’s slot replacement and generated 258 yards and three scores over a three-game span, but the Bucs won’t need to rely on either of them after adding wideout Emeka Egbuka with their first-round pick.
Joe will have to go back and look at the All-22 because Joe doesn’t remember Cade Otton lining up much at slot. Otton pretty much carried the passing offense in those fateful four games. Solid work by former Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen to even try to keep the Bucs’ passing game competitive.
But as Billy points out, if the Bucs suffer a non-serious injury to one of their top-four receivers, so what? The Bucs should still have a top-shelf passing attack.
Awfully nice to have such a luxury.
June 1st, 2025 at 8:10 am
And if you look at it in terms of “targets” not just WR’s or TE’s the Bucs backfield is loaded and at least two of them are excellent receivers.
I’m still of the opinion that Rachaad could have filled in at the slot and then let Bucky and Tucker carry the load.
Bottom line is Barnwell is correct, the Bucs have an AMAZING number of targets!
June 1st, 2025 at 8:28 am
I care. You can’t have too much depth at wide receiver. Not too mention what you can do to defenses throwing in an occasional four wide formation.
June 1st, 2025 at 8:29 am
Bakes just hits the open man.
June 1st, 2025 at 8:32 am
2 dangerous backup TEs too
June 1st, 2025 at 8:33 am
need a backup QB? hope not
June 1st, 2025 at 9:19 am
Culp. Also.
June 1st, 2025 at 9:37 am
You know if I was in Rashad White shoes I would contemplate shifting over to slot receiver on a permanent basis. Running backs take too much wear and tear and don’t get paid enough.
I wonder if anyone has ever done that after they were already established in the NFL?
June 1st, 2025 at 9:48 am
Greg
Lennie Moore did that for the Colts back when I was a young kid! IOTW Long,long,ago. There were others but Lennie did it and make the HOF.
There were others but back then “positions” were not as iron clad or as specialized as today. But I’m seeing some creativity from OC’s and DC’s in recent years.
I agree completely with your take. Now that Bucky has emerged as a VERY talented RB and Tucker is also a solid backup that should free Griz to move Rachaad all over the field to take advantage of his versatility.
June 1st, 2025 at 11:43 am
Cade definitely played the Godwin roll a few games. If I remember correctly coaches said he ‘Played his roll and ran his routes’. I don’t know that he literally lined up in the WR slot position.
June 1st, 2025 at 11:44 am
From what I understand Grizz was a 3rd down specialist tasked to keep the chains moving. Now he has two more downs, Egbuka, Tez, and Opeta to work with. He has a good chance to succeed. This has been a fun offense compared to the lost decade of scoring 10-17 points a game and Mersa toe debacle.
June 1st, 2025 at 12:32 pm
Insurance Baby !!!!!!!
June 1st, 2025 at 12:48 pm
Bake and Bucs r gonna have SOOO MUCH FUNNNNNN!! AND STILL SAY MINIMUM OF 13 WINS AND THINK 2 WILL BE CLOSE SOOO WLDNT SURPRISE ME 2 SEE 15WINS!
June 1st, 2025 at 2:34 pm
I would like too see the Bucs run 20% to 30% or the offense with a second RB on the field in slot of flanker with motion and with Tucker getting his fair share.
I believe that there is opportunity for the Buc there just waiting for exploitation.
June 1st, 2025 at 3:47 pm
The Bucs will be fine on offense as long as Baker cuts back on the INTs (16), fumbles (13), blocked passes (13) and sacks (40)…
June 1st, 2025 at 4:33 pm
I dunno man- we were not a competitive offense at all in games Mike Evans did not play in. For all the depth, there is no overall speed or downfield threat or anyone beyond Mike that demands attention from safeties. Without him teams cheated up and shut down what is essentially a short passing game. Our solution was to draft another moderate speed slot receiver.
June 1st, 2025 at 4:37 pm
A great offense with tons of options is a great hedge against a cavernous pass defense coughing up games constantly.
We’ll need to score 35+ per game.
Bowles is out of his depth.
June 1st, 2025 at 5:21 pm
back up tight ends with hands…
a multitude of receiving backs…
forget about deep…it could be a gawd dam party out there…
the only one who could come under scrutiny is grizzle…
but most likely he will sizzle
#AndAllWillBeOkay
June 1st, 2025 at 5:23 pm
Griz, plan some formations to line Opeta up as a blocking TE and FB (replacing Ko Kieft)
June 1st, 2025 at 5:30 pm
@Marine:
i really don’t care if bake tosses an average of 1 int a game…if he’s slingin’ it…
this whole thing about ints has gotten crazy…
back in the day all these heralded quarterbacks threw tons of ints…tons…
20, 25, 28….it was crazy…
if you keep the ints to 1 per game or less – on average, that’s totally fine…
if bake throw 16, 17 ints and 40+ tds i’m all for it…
look at joe willie namath’s stats…look at vinny’s…and so on…omg…
just toss 40 plus tds with these great weapons imho…
10-12 ints would be nice, but 15, 16 is ok too…
dudes used to toss ints years ago like hotcakes…it was crazy…and normal…
pull up doug williams numbers as a buc…try those numbers on for size…and he’s in our ROH too…
years ago qbs were called great and often had more ints than tds in a season…like what kind of thought process was that…compared to now…?
the no int thing is getting a little weird…guys like ronde and donnie abraham gotta eat too 🙂
June 1st, 2025 at 5:38 pm
Didn’t Brady throw 15 ints in 2020 too?
June 1st, 2025 at 5:43 pm
Well, he threw 13 in 16 games.
June 1st, 2025 at 5:44 pm
Rules have changed favoring the qb’s and receivers. That’s why less int’s and much higher completion percentages and higher passer ratings.
June 1st, 2025 at 5:44 pm
Oops 12.
June 1st, 2025 at 5:50 pm
But when you throw 41 td’s and 16 picks, it’s ok. Plus it’s total turnovers that matter and Bake only “lost” 2 fumbles. Plus the differential between interception% and td% was fantastic for Baker. I think number 5 in the NFL behind Jackson, Allen, Burrow and Goff.
June 1st, 2025 at 6:11 pm
People are sleeping on Devin Culp. This is going to be his year.
June 1st, 2025 at 6:31 pm
That is a pretty arrogant assessment. Maybe a little more humble of the treasures we have!!
June 1st, 2025 at 7:08 pm
I know Devin Culp has bulked up to play TE in the NFL but if he has maintained his speed he could be special.
From Chat GPT
Devin Culp, the tight end from the University of Washington, ran an impressive 4.47 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. This time was notable as it was the fastest among tight ends at the combine that year and ranked as the fourth-fastest time recorded by a tight end since 2003. Culp’s performance showcased his athleticism and potential as a pass-catching tight end, contributing to his selection by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
June 1st, 2025 at 7:11 pm
Predicting all time team record for average points per game for 2025 at 35 points per game. Haven’t been this excited for a season since 2020 or 2021.
June 1st, 2025 at 11:12 pm
I’m not going to be completely shocked if Tez gets rep @ WR at some point this year.
June 2nd, 2025 at 7:54 pm
Leave it to the resident jeeniuz to predict “Tez” plays football. Naa, he’s gonna pick up horseshoes.