Who’s Hurt At Receiver? Who Cares?
June 1st, 2025
“This is gonna be great!”
Very interesting point made 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 at slot. But it could be because the Bucs were that barren at receiver when both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin went down.
And 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.