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The Return Of The Real Chris Godwin

June 4th, 2026

Back to the future?

The past few years have not been great for Chris Godwin.

Whether he was recovering from knee surgery or a shattered ankle, learning a new offense or being misused for roughly two-thirds of a season, Godwin hasn’t been himself, really, for a full season since the Bucs won the Super Bowl in 2020.

Now healthy, and as he discussed this week, Godwin looks to be heading for a full season of strong, maybe Pro Bowl-level football again.

And Eric Moody of BSPN, seeing how Godwin finished the 2025 season strong, expects that success to carry over to this fall.

Chris Godwin Jr., WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Godwin isn’t a trendy sleeper at this stage of his career, but his role looks more secure after Mike Evans signed with San Francisco. His 2025 season was slowed by recovery from a broken ankle, but Godwin still flashed late and has QB Baker Mayfield’s trust. We have him projected for the second-most targets on the team behind Emeka Egbuka.

The only thing that will stop Egbuka from having the second-most targets this fall for “Unc” will be if Jalen McMillan elevates his game, which easily could happen as Joe expects teams to be more worried about Emeka Egbuka and Godwin, or, sadly, if the injury bug bites Godwin again.

Joe is confident Mayfield trusts all his receivers. But the one he likely has the most trust in is Godwin since he’s thrown to Godwin more than any of the other, younger Bucs receives.