Some short-sighted fantasy owners may cut bait with Tez Johnson during Tampa Bay’s bye week. Sam Connon sorts out how you can take advantage.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are one of four NFL teams currently on bye, rendering their skill position players useless in Week 9 fantasy football matchups. Fantasy owners surely won’t cut idle stars like Bucky Irving or Baker Mayfield, but some of the tangential contributors may not be as safe. Tez Johnson, for instance, could get let go by a team that is desperate to cobble together a lineup of free agents.

The rookie wide receiver is rostered in 50% of Yahoo leagues and 42.6% of ESPN leagues – but stay tuned in case those numbers dip or if he comes across waivers in your league. If you have the wiggle room to pick up a player on bye, Johnson could be a league-winning addition.

Tez Johnson Fantasy Value

Through four weeks this season, Johnson had logged just one target, one catch and one carry for 13 total yards. He was even a healthy scratch in Week 2. Since Week 5, however, Johnson has been relevant both to Tampa Bay’s success and as a fantasy option.

Johnson is averaging 3.5 receptions and 5.5 targets per game over his last four contests. He is averaging 51.3 yards per game and 14.6 yards per reception in that span, notching two touchdowns along the way. He has cleared 9.2 PPR fantasy points in four consecutive weeks, topping out at 15.8 against the Lions in Week 7.

Since emerging as a regular option for Mayfield and the Buccaneers’ offense, Johnson is averaging 11.6 PPR fantasy points per game. For context, that is higher than Brian Thomas Jr., Marvin Harrison Jr., Tee Higgins, Terry McLaurin and D.J. Moore’s full-season averages.

Where does Tez Johnson fit into the Buccaneers’ depth chart?

Johnson was a prime waiver target a few weeks ago, back when Mike Evans and Emeka Egbuka were both dealing with hamstring injuries. Chris Godwin, who had just returned from a broken ankle he suffered in 2024, was battling a fibula injury as well.

Both Evans and Egbuka were back on the field by Week 7, but the former suffered a broken collarbone upon his return. And while Egbuka is no longer carrying an injury designation, he caught just three of his nine targets for 35 yards and no touchdowns in Week 8. He is averaging 6.9 PPR fantasy points per game after averaging 20.1 through Week 5.

Johnson has been on the field for 70.0% of Tampa Bay’s offensive snaps over the last three weeks. Egbuka leads the team’s receivers with a 72.8% snap share in that span, while Sterling Shepard ranks third at 52.2%. Kameron Johnson got 49.1% of snaps in Week 6, but saw that figure drop to 21.7% in Week 7 and 10.3% in Week 8.

So in a pass-heavy system, Tez Johnson is – at worst – a WR2 who may be emerging as a 1B.

Tez Johnson 2025 Fantasy Outlook

Egbuka certainly carries more value than Johnson, given that he went in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft and not the seventh. But just because Egbuka has shown a higher ceiling doesn’t mean Johnson can’t get his fill too. Johnson is comfortably a WR2 on a fantasy-friendly offense, with the potential to become a top target if Egbuka’s hamstring issue lingers past the bye.

Johnson is already available in half of all fantasy leagues. Since he is on bye and still a relative unknown, Johnson’s availability should creep up in the coming days. He is hardly being looked at as a top-60 receiver in fantasy moving forward this season, despite being WR32 on average over the last four weeks. Johnson could turn out to be a dependable FLEX option down the stretch, so keep an eye on the transaction log to see if anyone cuts bait.