The offseason story for the Buccaneers has been out with the old and in with the new. First, the team fired head coach Dirk Koetter and replaced him with former Cardinals coach Bruce Arians. Arians was a very exciting hire for fantasy purposes, as he’s shown in the past to produce very good offenses. He’ll have plenty of weapons at his disposal, but there were some departures in the receiving core that will further cement roles for other players. From a talent standpoint, DeSean Jackson reunited with the Eagles, while Adam Humphries signed with the Titans. These departures open up a deep threat hole and a handful of underneath targets. There are now 179 available targets from last season that registered 117 catches for 1,590 yards and 9 touchdowns. That’s a lot of fantasy goodness to be shared between three very skilled individuals.
Mike Evans is clearly the top dog in this offense and he should see his numbers jump from an 86-1,524-8 stat line. He might even return to WR2 overall form like The Wolf had him ranked just a few seasons ago.
While Evans is sure to rise, the biggest stock up appears to be Chris Godwin. Godwin was buried behind a plethora of receivers last year, but when given a starting opportunity, he had a rather high ceiling. Godwin can slide more so into the Jackson WR2 role, but Godwin is far more reliable in the red zone. He had 7 touchdowns last year and can see a slight uptick in that for 2019. There’s also the recently signed Breshad Perriman, whose career was somewhat revitalized in Cleveland. He’ll attempt to fill the vertical role in order to take the top off the defense.
Finally, there’s OJ Howard, whose season was cut short after 10 games. Jameis Winston has been known to favor his tight ends and Howard has shown the ability to be one of the more talented and athletic tight ends in the league. Similar to Godwin, Howard has proven to be reliable in the red zone. The only annoying thing with Howard though is the leech Cameron Brate, who continues to linger around and steal scores from Bucs’ pass catchers.
Overall, it’s a positive scenario for all three receivers having so much of the aerial pie up for grabs. The added bonus of welcoming Arians to the team should be the cherry on top for an offense with loads of potential.
