Wide Receiver By Commitee
May 3rd, 2026
Could Jalen McMillan be that guy?
As Ryan Wilson of CBS said when looking at the 2026 Bucs, you don’t replace a guy like Mike Evans.
What successful teams do, Wilson said, is find workarounds so Evans isn’t missed that much. Or, in a perfect world, Evans isn’t missed.
Now Wilson, speaking on CBS HQ, wasn’t trying to say the Bucs won’t miss Evans. But Wilson does believe the Bucs have their wide receiving room stocked well enough to replace most of Evans’ production.
“How do the Buccaneers replace Mike Evans?” Wilson asked. “The short answer is, you don’t, but they have some dudes.
“They drafted Emeka Egbuka last year in the first round. You see Ted Hurst. There was not a lot of buzz about Ted Hurst in the fall, because he played at Georgia State. [But], then he went in the Senior Bowl and just took over.
“[Hurst] is 6-3, he can run sub-4.5. He’s a huge catch radius guy. In terms of getting on the bus, he looks like Mike Evans, but he’s faster.”
Wilson seemed to think if each of the Bucs’ receivers pick up their games just a little from last year, and Hurst is able to contribute, the Bucs may be able to get by with Evans playing on the west coast.
“Obviously, [Hurst is] not going to be a future Hall of Famer, because we haven’t seen him play yet,” Wilson said. “[The Bucs] also have Jalen McMillan, who played at a high level [before]. They re-signed Cade Otton.
“So I think it’s going to be a wide receiver by committee approach.”
That’s probably the smartest way to play without Evans. Joe’s sure if a team should want its slot receiver to be the go-to guy and Chris Godwin loves playing slot.
Is Emeka Egbuka ready to be a No. 1? First, Joe would like to know why he vanished in the final two months of the season before anointing him as the No. 1 receiver. Asking Hurst to be a No. 1 receiver is way premature.
But you know what, Joe wouldn’t be shocked if Jalen McMillen rose up and became Baker Mayfield’s go-to guy. He’s shown flashes that he could.
May 3rd, 2026 at 11:07 am
Let’s face it. In the last 12 years, Evans has been the best Red Zone target in the NFL. You can’t replace his height combined with his 84-inch arm length.
He was open because of his unique wingspan.
No one including Hurst is replacing that. But a good coach should be able to get this set of wide receivers and running backs to score in the Red Zone, especially if the OL becomes a strength again like it has been before last year.
I just fear there will be some games where us fans will miss that Evans HOF skill set.
May 3rd, 2026 at 11:11 am
Hurst was measured at 6’4″ at the combine.
May 3rd, 2026 at 11:20 am
Obviously, [Hurst is] not going to be a future Hall of Famer, because we haven’t seen him play yet,” Wilson said.
what kind of idiot thinks this way.
May 3rd, 2026 at 11:22 am
Ryan Wilson of CBS gonna tell us about our wide receiver room? And fail to mention Chris Godwin? Nah. Don’t think so. Anybody sleeping on Chris Godwin is about to get woke up. With a jolt. Chris Godwin is healthy and the leader of that position group. 100 catches. 1200 yards. 10 touchdowns. Or something really close to that. Oh yeah. JMac, Emeka, Hurst and Tez are studs.
May 3rd, 2026 at 11:32 am
Preach, Kenton!!
May 3rd, 2026 at 11:43 am
Kenton, I hope you are correct on Godwin being a 10 TD guy.
But even with ME gone, I’d take the under on that.
Godwin is our best WR between the 20’s. Just not a red zone guy even when he plays every game of the season and is healthy.
He averages a TD every 3 games of his NFL career, so it is quite a bump up to get to 10.
May 3rd, 2026 at 11:44 am
We have a pretty good UDFA WR
Eric Rivers from Georgia Tech
He’s smaller, 5’11 180 lbs, but he runs a 4.35
Can return punts, can play in kickoff/ punt team.
He was a productive WR in college
May 3rd, 2026 at 11:45 am
— Jimmy
“Obviously, [Hurst is] not going to be a future Hall of Famer, because we haven’t seen him play yet,” Wilson said.
What kind of idiot thinks this way?”
Based on using his logic, I can confidently assert that Ryan Wilson won’t become a Hall of Fame sports journalist. I just haven’t seen him play yet.
May 3rd, 2026 at 11:53 am
The problem is J Mac hasn’t played a full healthy season going back to his college days and Godwin is always hurt too. That crushes their depth if and or when that occurs.
May 3rd, 2026 at 11:56 am
Call him whatever number you’d want in terms of the depth chart, but Hurst is our Starting X receiver immediately, playing Evans’ former position.
I call that WR1, but tomato tomăto
May 3rd, 2026 at 12:07 pm
Imagine if Bain had an 84 inch wingspan!!! OMG imagine the articles and posts written about that!!!!!🤪🤪🤪
Until somebody takes the title “I’M THAT MAN” it’s gonna have to be that. It seems every time one of them looks the part they all of a sudden become JAG due to hitting the rookie wall full blast, injury or the smoke and mirrors disappear and we see what they really were. It’s a shame Evans is the only player I can remember on offense who fits the title from the time he was a rookie. All these acronyms and ATM was the worst. Baker could be that guy but he is simply too much of a tease to hold onto it. It seems just as he seems to grab hold of it he eats hit buttered popcorn and starts his regular mid season lull or gets injured and falls off a cliff.
You guys expecting Chris Godwin to come back and become a world beater don’t hold your breath. He’s had two bad injuries late in his career and he’s never been that guy even when Evans was out. I lost any great expectations of him before all that when he was run down from behind by Luke Keuchly a few years back on what should have been a 70+ td score, and I don’t care if Keuchly’s a 1st ballot hall of famer and took the greatest angle anybody could take in the history of the NFL to make that play.
May 3rd, 2026 at 12:12 pm
Hey Todd I think Jimmy was using this thing called sarcasm and he was saving that for his monkey friends since it obviously missed it’s mark with you.
May 3rd, 2026 at 12:15 pm
Durham looks like he could be a red zone guy if they’d give him a chance.
Of course, 31 teams did not have Mike Evans on their rosters at all last year and about half of them were better than the Bucs.
May 3rd, 2026 at 12:37 pm
After reading the article I was wondering if Chris and Tez were cut or traded?
May 3rd, 2026 at 12:41 pm
LOL Todd
I was thinking the same about the twisted logic, sarcasm or not. WR group has vast potential for a breakout season. Godwin and J-Mac were out most of the season and seemed to be rounding into form towards the end. EE hit the rookie wall and could have still been nursing a hammy. Hurst has all the tools and Tez is a joker in the mix. If Baker didn’t turn into a pumpkin, the o-line returns to health, and Zac is as advertised, we have a good chance at top 10 offense. Losing Mike, who missed much of last year also, will be barely noticed.