The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have had some changes to the roster, such as former wide receiver and legend Mike Evans departing from the team via free agency, signing a three-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers in March of 2026.
Evans spent 12 years as a Buc, but now things are shifting.
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Tampa Bay did draft wide receiver Ted Hurst out of Georgia State in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft. With the new additions to the wide receiver core, Chris Godwin Jr. can still have a substantial role in the offense.
Godwin sustained an ankle injury in the 2025 regular season that was sustained during Week five against the Seattle Seahawks. Godwin was out for five games with the injury but also missed time in 2024 with an ankle injury also, which concluded his season.
With wide receivers Emeka Egbuka, Ted Hurst, Jalen McMillan, and such, Godwin can still able a viable option in the offense for quarterback Baker Mayfield. Godwin primarily operates in the slot, doing damage in the middle of the field and catching screens as well. Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson could scheme plays for Godwin, and he’ll be able to get single coverage with coverage being rolled to Egbuka.
It was reported by Brianna Dix of the official team site that Robinson talked about his plan for the offense involving Godwin this week saying,
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“He is right in the thick of it. Just his style of play and the way that he plays the game of football is exactly what we want to exemplify as an offense” Robinson said. “I showed some of those clips earlier on in the offseason of just the toughness that he plays with, the energy that he brings in a snap-in, snap-out basis – that stuff overrides any sort of scheme that you get into, so a lot of the way that Chris plays the game, you go back and you watch when he came back last season and how much he progressed, you are seeing the run-after-catch and him doing the things that he has always done and at a really high level.
“You watch the ’24 stuff and there is really no receiver playing better than him in the league before he got hurt so Chris looks great out there right now and is still working back but shoot, over the last half of the season to now, I think you are seeing him getting back to his stride.”
The Buccaneers were ranked 21st in Total Offense in 2025, according to Fox Sports, averaging 320.4 yards per game.
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