Are Five Receivers Already Locked In For The Bucs?
July 9th, 2025
How safe?
We’re creeping towards the beginning of training camp. In two weeks Joe will be typing about real Bucs competition for a change.
Pat Donovan of WDAE-AM 620 brought up an interesting take on the Bucs.
Donovan, who also is an on-air personality for the Buccaneers Radio Network, believes there are four top Bus receivers and then everyone else. And everyone else is going to have to duke it out for a roster spot.
Joe gets what Donovan is trying to sell. There’s no way short of injury or a trade that Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan are not on the roster come September.
The rest, Donovan seems to think, you just drop in a bag and pull out the guys you need blindfolded to fill out the receiver room.
But Joe would actually add a fifth receiver to Donovan’s list. That would be Sterling Shepherd.
Remember, the former Oklahoma teammate of Baker Mayfield’s is Mayfield’s bro. It’s quite likely Shepherd is not on the roster if not for Mayfield, who personally got Shepherd off the couch and to Tampa Bay.
The hidden factor is that the veteran Shepherd has worked a lot in underwear football and in meeting rooms with Egbuka. If Egbuka is the guy we think he will be with the Bucs, it wouldn’t be smart to toss Shepherd aside so easily since he’s become Egbuka’s tutor of sorts.
But yeah, after Shepherd, those guys better be busting their tails this summer if they hope to stick. Not many open seats.
Also, a friendly reminder what an NFL general manager once told Joe at the combine years ago: If someone isn’t starting and he can’t play special teams, he’s an endangered species.
Translation: Special teams means continuing to collect a check.
@953wdaeTKras and the crew are going at it over Bucs WR depth chart tiers. Is it two tiers or three? Does it even matter?♬ original sound – 953wdae
July 9th, 2025 at 4:09 am
I want Tez Johnson as the fifth WR. He works as a returner, and should still be playing long after Shephard is retired for good.
July 9th, 2025 at 4:36 am
Keep Shepherd on the practice squad. Nobody is going to pluck him from there. We saw that last year. Johnson and ? Miller maybe. Jarrett and Palmer are doubtful in my opinion as neither did anything when they had the chance on ST.
July 9th, 2025 at 4:49 am
Agree Joe. I just hope that Shep can manage to keep his head in the game and stop with the stupid penalties. Ryan Miller made some plays last year and everytime I turned around he was making some key blocks….He also plays on special teams. Tez Johnson has had a lot of buzz but his stock improves greatly if he nails down the return job.
Go Bucs!
July 9th, 2025 at 5:32 am
Watched Oregon against Penn state last night for the big ten championship. Tez Johnson was electric. He’s making the team. Sheppard I see going to the practice squad. That’s where they put him last season. He stays on as a vet presence, and get be brought up in case of emergency like last year.
July 9th, 2025 at 6:26 am
Trey Palmer on the trading block. Raiders, Steelers, just not in the NFC or KC.
July 9th, 2025 at 6:30 am
whoever gets cut will end up with the jags or panthers be it trey, Jarret or Ryan Miller, shepherd to the practice squad, Tez needs a shot maybe he can return punts
July 9th, 2025 at 6:37 am
Bucs will end up keeping 7 receivers altogether: Evans, Godwin, McMillan, Egbuka, Shepard, Palmer & Tez. Each offers something unique, as does Rakim Jarrett. He improved a LOT last year but got relatively few opportunities (10 games, 11 targets with 9 catches (81.8%), 5 first downs, 124 yds, 13.7 YPR).
July 9th, 2025 at 6:59 am
Kameron Johnson not mentioned?
July 9th, 2025 at 7:12 am
@ Hodad
I agree with you on Tez. He will be our starting punt returner and our WR6…
@ DR
I agree with your list but keeping 7 WRs might be a stretch unless Godwin starts the season on IR which is a strong possibility. Palmer might be the odd man out.
Jarrett seems to have problems staying healthy the past two seasons.
July 9th, 2025 at 7:38 am
So are they keeping six because of Tez as a returner? And what about KAM? People are mentioning Palmer and Jarrett and Miller… But remember the Bucs were very impressed with the upside of KAM and then he was hurt and never really got many opportunities
July 9th, 2025 at 7:43 am
Marine Buc … I personally expect Godwin to start the season on IR (there’s no need to rush him onto the field). Once he comes back onto the 53-man roster, Shep would probably be moved to the Practice Squad and brought back up if someone gets injured.
July 9th, 2025 at 7:44 am
I was thinking they keep 6 but with Godwin, who I don’t think starts the first game, I can see keeping 7 active.
July 9th, 2025 at 7:46 am
@David. Kam got one target – and dropped an easy TD in the Philly game. I like his quicks but I see Tez replacing him.
July 9th, 2025 at 7:50 am
Hodad is seeing what I’m seeing. Tez Johnson is a playmaker and a punt return specialist. So he’s our number 5 guy. And like Marine Buc I don’t know how we keep 7 on game day. I’m still believing Godwin catches the first pass of the season. I would take Shep over Palmer any day. His chances to be number 6 are about 50/50. I’d sure like him to get a ring. Competition is gonna be fierce and we’re playing Seattle one month from today!
July 9th, 2025 at 7:58 am
Behind the top 4 it should be a wide open competition.
Nobody really has a leg up over anybody else after Evans, Godwin, J Mac, & Egbuka.
I’d like to think the staff allows these guys to come in and earn those spots on the back end of the WR depth chart, let the cream rise to the top.
I will say, I wanted Sterling Shepard gone after that first Saints game. I also think Culp could replace w/e production we could get from Sterling Shepard
July 9th, 2025 at 8:24 am
Shep will be the practice squad guy who they can elevate anytime, no way he make the final roster. You just said it yourself he was on the couch until Baker got the Bucs to make the call. Unless you are a knucklehead or wash-up the NFL does not leave talent on the couch!
July 9th, 2025 at 8:41 am
we’re so lucky at WR man.
Although he is currently in 24th place on the all-time receiving yards list (12,684), Evans can quickly catapult up that index of luminaries if he can sustain what has become ordinary output for him. By the time the 2027 season is in the books, it would not be surprising to see him in the top-five in terms of receiving yards (Isaac Bruce presently sits at No. 5 with 15,208) and receiving touchdowns (Marvin Harrison Sr. and his 128 TDs are in fifth place in that regard, while Evans leads the way among all active players with 105 receiving TDs).
July 9th, 2025 at 8:57 am
yep their set with 5…
also sterling is an emergency veteran upgrade that baker and the staff feel comfortable with if there’s an injury…
meaning: for a game or two you can bump him up to the 2, 3, or 4 spot if pressed to do so…
as for the 6 and 7 spots……..there’s definitely a log jam
it’ll be interesting to see…
you’ve got the 7th round rook
kam
palmer
jarrett
miller
and maybe more…i might have forgot someone…it’s kind of a crazy stack of dudes
let the cards fall where they may…should be interesting
July 9th, 2025 at 8:58 am
yep they’re set with 5… ***
(grammar is everything lol)
July 9th, 2025 at 9:03 am
If Tez shows good hands and most importantly, good ‘ball security’ then he’s on the team – no way you let him go with a nice upside and 4-YEARS under team control on the CHEAP. Hopefully, he takes the #1 returner job. Palmer better have one helluvan exceptional camp… The camp of his LIFE. And, it very well could be for HIS literal “football life.” I don’t know about Johnson tho… I just haven’t seen enough of him yet!? Maybe, he comes into camp in the best shape of his life and remains 💯 healthy… He could make things VERY interesting, and a VERY tough decision for the coaches and organization. I hope he does. I also, hope we can pull-off at least one or two trades for these guys, and at least get back some additional ‘draft capital’ for the future (for potential future trades come ‘deadline’ time, or in order to move-up in next season’s draft)… Versus losing them for nothing at all. Regardless, EVERYONE should benefit greatly from the competition. Especially, the JMac-EE competition for our #3 & #3a… Should bring-out their very best. Could really set the tone for the rest of the team and for the entire season. We’re going to need it! Should be LOTS of fun.
July 9th, 2025 at 9:06 am
shep is old and glitchy. it’s been fun for the baker bro but it’s time. nothing personal. i know i know, he can teach culture and has good teeth and attitude etc etc.
July 9th, 2025 at 9:09 am
Wow,,, this is a nice problem to have when your mentioning quality players as a # 6 and 7
July 9th, 2025 at 9:15 am
Evans needs a Signature year. 1400 Yards.
If he didn’t get hurt last year, he would have been close.
1400 would absolutely capapult Evans in all time receiving yards. It would put Evans one season away from passing Moss.
July 9th, 2025 at 9:16 am
Whatever happened to Palmer? Thought he was going to develop last year?
July 9th, 2025 at 9:28 am
Personally, I think it will be Evans, Godwin (possibly IR to start), McMillan, Egbuka, Shepard, then any of the following Ryan Miller, Tez Johnson, Trey Palmer…
Though personally, I think Trey Palmer is going to get traded to the Steelers. Then if Godwin is on IR, then it’ll be Miller and Tez Johnson. I think Miller goes to practice squad and Tez Johnson stays on. Not that Ryan Miller is bad, he is good at everything, he just isn’t a game changer.
Rakim Jarret doesn’t see the field enough, but he does randomly make a good catch and then disappears again. Practice squad guy for sure.
Kam Johnson failed with the few opportunities he did have, such as dropping the tuddy early on. So he is a practice squad guy in my opinion.
We may run with 6 WR’s or 7, but more likely 6 cause we have 3 TE’s who see the field a lot.
July 9th, 2025 at 9:39 am
“Whatever happened to Palmer? Thought he was going to develop last year?”
We didn’t push the ball upfield enough to to take advantage of his speed under Coen. Could be a case of different eyes seeing him differently, but he was much more involved in our offense with Canales as OC than he was with Coen. I think that’s the one downside to the OC shuffling we’ve experienced since 2022, is that we still lose a little bit of continuity in terms of application of personnel.
July 9th, 2025 at 9:46 am
for 6 and 7………….
2 guys make it…
2 guys go to PS…
1 guy either is traded, cut, or maybe they play around with pup or some injury thing, and have him laying in the weeds…or something
the guys in no particular order:
palmer
kam
tez
jarrett
miller
July 9th, 2025 at 9:47 am
maybe you keep palmer for a bit and wait for a team to get desperate with an injury…and unload palmer for a 6th or something
July 9th, 2025 at 10:51 am
Shep drops way too me any balls, especially when he is wide open. Shep is a weak link to the receivers room……
July 9th, 2025 at 10:54 am
I have never been impressed with Shepherd, in fact I have been more frustrated with him dropping passes. Him and Palmer can go! Tez will probably be our #5 and we carry 3x TEs.
July 9th, 2025 at 10:57 am
*Make that 6 WRs – keeping Jarrett too. I don’t see 7 WRs on the active roster.
July 9th, 2025 at 11:20 am
Trey Darden Palmer and Kam Kennybell Johnson and Rakim Jarrett are history.
The dwarf probably makes it for a minute.
July 9th, 2025 at 11:31 am
Tez is in. Shepherd is a maybe.
July 9th, 2025 at 11:34 am
They’ve never carried 7 WRs on the active roster. 5 or 6 with 2 on the PS.
July 9th, 2025 at 12:06 pm
Aqualung Says:
July 9th, 2025 at 11:20 am
That moniker is unwarranted. We don’t even know what Kam Johnson can do. He was a UDFA rookie who got hurt. No reason to be cynical.
July 9th, 2025 at 3:02 pm
I’d like to see them keep Shep and Tez. Tez will snag our punt return duties and he’s a weapon in the pass game. Little bro just needs to keep his head down and work in camp, gain Grizz and Baker’s trust.
July 9th, 2025 at 3:48 pm
I would much rather see a couple younger guys beat out Shepard.
July 9th, 2025 at 4:25 pm
Tez will stay, he is Bucky Irving at WR. In the open he is uncatcable.