Tag: Jalen McMillan

2025 Bucs Offseason Preview: Wide Receivers

The Bucs continue to boast one of the NFL’s best WR tandems with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, but more drafted talent wouldn’t hurt.

The 2024 season was a three-part tale of glory, turmoil, and redemption for the Buccaneers’ wide receiver corps. It teased the possibilities of a top-five finish for Chris Godwin and reminded everyone why Mike Evans is still one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, 11 record-breaking seasons on.

The season began with Godwin carrying the Bucs pass offense. Through seven games, he caught 50 passes for 576 yards and five touchdowns, putting him on pace to finish top-five in all three categories among wide receivers. Even after suffering a season-ending ankle injury in Week 7, Godwin posted the NFL’s best reception rate (83.3%) and was top-10 in yards per route run, yards after catch per reception, and NFL passer rating (minimum 35 targets). Godwin even posted a career-best zero dropped passes.

Godwin’s success was not shared by Mike Evans, who posted just 335 receiving yards through Week 7, which would have put him well short of getting an 11th-straight 1000-yard season. For the first half of the season, Evans simply was not the focal point of the offense as he had been his entire career.

Week 7 is where the story turns, as the Bucs lost Godwin for the season and Mike Evans to a hamstring injury for several weeks in a crushing loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The Bucs faced a brutal three-game stretch in which Baker Mayfield relied on veteran Sterling Shepard and undrafted players like Ryan Miller and Rakim Jarrett.

Once Evans returned in Week 12, he reminded everyone who he was and what he could do. He broke a couple of records. First and foremost, he tied Jerry Rice’s record of 11 straight seasons with at least 1000 receiving yards. Evans also became the NFL’s all-time leader in defensive pass interference yardage in the regular season and playoffs (860) per FTN.

Though Godwin and Evans peaked at different points in the season, they proved they are among, if not the best, wide receiver tandem in the NFL. 

That is why the Bucs will move heaven and earth to ensure Chris Godwin stays in Tampa Bay.

The continuity of Evans and Godwin is a major reason for the Bucs’ sustained offensive success over the last five years. Despite considerable turnover at offensive coordinator and quarterback, Evans and Godwin just make everyone right on offense.

Evans has another year on his extension, while Godwin’s expires this offseason. Due to the heavy borrowing, the Bucs did during the Brady years, Godwin has a dead cap hit of $18.8 million in 2025 per Over the Cap.

However, re-signing Godwin before the start of the league year would likely cost less than letting Godwin walk. At 29 years old and coming off a significant ankle injury, Godwin probably would command a salary similar to Cooper Kupp or Davante Adams, averaging between $25 and $30 million per year. While this would again require the use of void years and back-loading his contract, the Bucs could keep Godwin in Tampa Bay at a competitive price.

2025 also saw the rise of rookie Jalen McMillan, who started the season slow but came on as a viable scoring weapon down the stretch. In the last five games of the season, McMillan scored seven touchdowns. While he could be the Bucs’ WR2 if Godwin signed elsewhere, he would be a top-end WR3 next season playing behind Evans and Godwin.

The Trey Palmer experiment may have reached its untimely end. Despite the injuries to the wide receiver corps this season, Palmer was less productive and no more efficient than he was in 2023, catching just 12 passes for 172 yards compared to 39 catches for 385 yards and three touchdowns in 2023. He was also an ineffective punt return, averaging just 7.6 yards per return and muffing twice.

While the Bucs are sure to bring back some combination of Palmer, Shepard, Jarrett, and undrafted rookie Kameron Johnson, more talent is needed at the position to ensure against age and injury to Evans and Godwin. To bring back Godwin, the Bucs cannot afford to pay an up-and-coming receiver, so the draft will be their primary venue for acquisitions.

Iowa St. WR Jayden Higgins would add a little more size to a receiving corps that otherwise lacks it outside of Evans. He is a physical player known for his ability to make contested catches. While he is not the field stretcher that Evans is, he could be the next big target in the Bucs’ receiving arsenal.

While Utah St. WR Jalen Royals does not add much size to an NFL wide receiver room, his build and skill set are not dissimilar from Godwin’s. Royals averaged 3.0 yards per route run and 7.9 yards after the catch per reception, both top marks in this year’s receiver class.

Both Higgins and Royals could be targets for Tampa Bay on Day 2 of the draft. Though the Bucs are sure to emphasize adding defensive talent with their top picks, adding either prospect would simultaneously prepare for the future and reinforce the strength of the offense.

Bucs breakout rookie seen as X-factor heading into playoffs

Ian Valentino wrote up his choices for X-factors for each NFL playoff team, and the rookie wide receiver was his choice for the Bucs.

Jalen McMillan has emerged in recent weeks, and people are noticing. The Bucs offense was explosive in 2024, and that was without Chris Godwin for most of it. McMillan allowed this team to keep going and growing as the season went on, and that isn’t being lost on anyone.

Ian Valentino of The 33rd Team wrote up his choices for X-factors for each NFL playoff team, and the rookie wide receiver was his choice for the Bucs.

Valentino writes, “. . .a switch was flipped in McMillan. He’s been a more prominent feature within the offense, and his role in beating New Orleans to win the NFC South already capped off a great finish to the season. . .Evans will always be the alpha in Tampa Bay, but McMillan now has Baker Mayfield’s trust. They must continue leaning into their emerging star to survive in the playoffs.”

McMillan looks to be a long-term option for the team alongside Mike Evans. If the team brings back Chris Godwin, the three of them could compliment each other with their roles. The playoffs will be very telling for what the Bucs future plans could hold for him.

Baker Mayfield finds Jalen McMillan for a TD late against the Saints

One of the bright spots on Sunday against the Saints came when Baker Mayfield found Jalen McMillan in the endzone. 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are having a Sunday they wish they could do over, and that is despite their new found lead. Despite their ups and downs today with penalties and the defense playing behind, there have been bright spots.

One of the bright spots on Sunday against the Saints came when Baker Mayfield found Jalen McMillan in the endzone.

Mayfield entered the fourth quarter with just 107 passing yards to his credit, but after the last drive, he now has 182 to his credit. Most of those have gone to Jalen McMillan, with whom he connected for two separate 30+ yard catches, with the second being for a touchdown.

In the play below, you can see Mayfield rolling out to his opposite side and establishing himself to connect with McMillan with a dot to the endzone. The rookie wide receiver would score in his fifth straight game after securing the catch and getting both feet down before going out of bounds.

The touchdown reception for McMillan puts him behind only Randy Moss for most consecutive games with a touchdown reception as a rookie (7).

 

Bucky Irving and Jalen McMillan are carving out a place in Bucs history

The performances of Irving and McMillan have them both carving out unique spots in the history of the Bucs franchise. 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers season has seen a renaissance of sorts in the second half of the season. The two leading Crusaders in their last season charge have been on offense with Bucky Irving and Jalen McMillan.

The performances of Irving and McMillan have them both carving out unique spots in the history of the Bucs franchise.

For running back Bucky Irving, he has a chance to become the second most productive rookie in terms of rushing yards. According to Statmuse, Irving is currently having the third-best rookie season by a running back in franchise history with 1,033 rushing yards. While he cannot realistically catch Doug Martin and his 2012 season (1,454 rushing yards), he is just 146 yards away from having the second-best season from a rookie.

Cadillac Williams currently had 1,178 rushing yards his rookie season in 2004.

Another offensive rookie making waves is Jalen McMillan. Statmuse tells us that he is having the third-best season by a rookie wide receiver in franchise history. The best belongs to Mike Evans in 2014 by a wide margin, second belongs to the late Mike Williams in 2010. McMillan has seven receiving touchdowns, 382 receiving yards, all on just 38 catches this year.

The Bucs offense is in good hands for the foreseeable future.

5 takeaways from the Bucs loss to the Cowboys in Week 16

Overall, it was one of the more entertaining games of the season. Unfortunately, the Bucs were on the losing end of a 26-24 must-win game.

Entering Sunday night’s contest against the Dallas Cowboys, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers controlled their destiny when it came to making the playoffs and holding on to their lead in the NFC South.

Overall, it was one of the more entertaining games of the season. Unfortunately, the Bucs were on the losing end of a 26-24 must-win game.

The Buccaneers are not a prime-time team

Prime-time games and the Buccaneers do not mix well. When the lights are the brightest, the Bucs are the dimmest. This season alone, 4-of-7 losses have come on a Thursday, Sunday, or Monday night game. Three of the four losses were one-score games, with two games going into overtime, but they featured the Buccaneers playing from behind and needing to come back to make the game closer. Following suit during Sunday night’s loss to the Cowboys, the Buccaneers were playing from behind and ultimately lost the game as they have on each prime-time game this season.

A true lack of identity

Typically, when you think of the top teams in the league, each one has an identity. The Buccaneers do not have an identity. They have stars on both sides of the ball but are not a team known for doing anything extraordinary. With the amount of talent on offense and defense, something should stand out, yet it doesn’t. Even more of a head-scratcher as they are a top 5 team in the league in both passing and rushing offense through 16 weeks of the regular season. This played out last night as a Cowboys team with nothing to play for, as they were eliminated from the playoffs before kickoff on Sunday night. It allowed a team that ranks near the bottom of the league in team defense and is a middle-of-the-pack team on offense to control the game completely.

Questionable clock management strikes again

Todd Bowles and clock management are as prevalent a pairing as the Buccaneers and prime-time games in that they do not mix well. Throughout the entire first half of the game, the Buccaneers could not stop the Cowboys on defense. Calling a timeout with 54 seconds remaining in the second quarter was questionable at best. The timeout would not have impacted Mayfield’s 11-yard strike to Jalen McMillan. Instead, it gave the Cowboys 48 seconds to move the ball down the field and get into scoring position with two timeouts remaining, and with the Buccaneers defense unable to slow down the Cowboys all night, they did just that.

Improper utilization of Irving and White

The box score will tell you that Bucky Irving led the team with 16 carries to Rachaad White’s three, but there is much more than meets the eye. For the final ten minutes of the game, Irving, the NFL’s leader in yards after contact per attempt, sat on the sidelines without a single touch while White finished the game for the Buccaneers offense. White is better in pass blocking than Irving is, but pass protection from the running back wasn’t the biggest issue for the team, as the Cowboys generated 22 pressures on the night. White led the team in receptions with seven and tied Evans for a team-high eight targets. To correctly use a dynamic backfield like the Buccaneers have, look towards a team like the Detroit Lions and how David Montogmery and Jahmyr Gibbs have been used this season.

Something is missing from the defense

Saying the defense needs leadership isn’t the right observation because it slights a veteran like Lavonte David and stars like Vita Vea and Antoine Winfield Jr., which isn’t an entirely fair assessment. However, it’s missing something at every level. This comes back to the lack of identity, which, if not player-related, has to fall back on coaching. This has been a theme for most of the season when the Bucs lose. The defense ranks 25th in yards allowed with 354.3 per game and 22nd in points per game allowed with 23.5. Their inability to routinely stop opposing offenses forces their offense to play mistake-free, which is a lot to ask for in a pass-heavy league. Football is a team game, and the best teams in the league typically find their offense and defense ranks not to have such a large gap.

As the season is winding down, the seat for the Buccaneers coaching staff should be scorching hot as they entered Week 16 in the playoffs and left Week 16 on the outside looking in. Simply put, there is too much talent on this Buccaneers team for the array of issues that rear their ugly heads more often than not.

 

Bucs WR Mike Evans offers a rookie wide receiver high praise

Cris Collinsworth shared an interesting tidbit that Mike Evans shared with them during the production meeting. 

Mike Evans has been with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers since he was drafted in 2014 seventh overall. During that time, Evans has enjoyed playing alongside handfuls of rookie wide receivers and veterans. Seeing how they all have progressed and come and gone means a lot when Mike Evans offers up his praise to a younger player.

During the broadcast of Sunday Night Football, Cris Collinsworth shared an interesting tidbit that Mike Evans shared with them during the production meeting.

Collinsworth shared that Evans told them during production meetings that rookie Jalen McMillan is the most talented rookie wide receiver he has ever played with. For context, that does include Chris Godwin, who was drafted in 2017 by the team.

McMillan has started to find his groove in recent weeks and is playing his way into a meaningful role long-term. He has four touchdowns in the last three weeks and the connection he has with Baker Mayfield may parlay into a bigger role in 2026.

Sterling Shepard injury update: Latest news on the Bucs WR

WR Sterling Shepard left the Bucs’ Sunday Night Football matchup with the Dallas Cowboys with a hamstring injury.

Buccaneers wide receiver Sterling Shepard has been ruled out of Tampa Bay’s Sunday Night Football matchup against the Dallas Cowboys with a hamstring injury. Shepard left the game in the third quarter after a 14-yard reception, after which Shepard left the field, grabbing the back of his leg.

 

Shepard has been a godsend to a Bucs receiving corps beset by injuries this season. After Chris Godwin was lost for the season and Mike Evans went down with his own hamstring injury, Shepard became Tampa Bay’s de facto WR1 until Evans’ return. This season, Shepard has 30 catches for 303 yards and a touchdown, adding seven carries for 55 yards.

With Shepard out, the Bucs will continue to lean on Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan to lead the receiver group. Shepard’s experience is not easily replaced, though Ryan Miller has come up big on a few plays in his first season with the Bucs. Second-year WR Rakim Jarrett should also see more work on offense.

The Bucs 2024 rookie class is producing on a grand scale

That isn’t a projection either; this rookie class is performing on a grand level that can be put into numbers to further the argument. 

The 2024 NFL Draft could be looked back on whenever this Bucs season ends as the turning point for this franchise. The team had some pieces coming into 2024, but the draft picks by Jason Licht and his staff have this team already stepping up and carving out a meaningful place on this team.

That isn’t a projection either; this rookie class is performing on a grand level that can be put into numbers to further the argument.

According to the Bucs Communications Team, “Tampa Bay’s 1,624 offensive snaps by the 2024 draft selections are the fourth-most in the NFL and are the most among division leaders. Their 10 touchdowns scored are tied for the most in the NFL and their 1,455 yards from scrimmage ranks second.”

The production they are getting out of the likes of Jalen McMillan and Bucky Irving is not to be forgotten. However, they also owe first-round pick Graham Barton a lot for securing the middle fo the offensive line for them and Baker Mayfield to create.

This is an all-time class for Jason Licht and his front office staff.

Jalen McMillan emerging as a trusted target for Bucs QB Baker Mayfield

Several Bucs players have stepped up to help Baker Mayfield, and no one has done more in recent weeks than rookie Jalen McMillan.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense has remained reliable in 2024 despite the time missed by both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. While Evans has returned from his hamstring injury, Chris Godwin remains out for the year, but you wouldn’t know it.

Several Bucs players have stepped up to help Baker Mayfield, and no one has done more in recent weeks than rookie Jalen McMillan.

McMillan is one of six Washington Husky players on the roster and is on pace to be a playmaker like the rest of them. It took a while for McMillan to get a connection going after some tough drops to start the year, but as we get into December, the connection is there.

More important than the connection, the trust Mayfield has in McMillan to make plays is paramount to their success.

In Week 14 against the Raiders, McMillan found the endzone twice. On Sunday against the Chargers, McMillan was back there for the third time in two weeks with a catch and score on the team’s opening drive.

You can watch the play below courtesy of the Bucs social media team.

Todd Bowles shares injury update on Bucs wide receiver

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver room is limping through the season as they are down both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver room is limping through the season as they are down both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. In their place, quarterback Baker Mayfield has utilized tight end Cade Otton and wide receiver Jalen McMillan.

McMillan popped up on the injury report on Friday and then missed the Bucs’ Monday night matchup with the Chiefs. He was listed with a hamstring injury, and on Wednesday, Bucs coach Todd Bowles gave an update on his condition.

“It’s just aggravated. It took a turn for the worse Friday, and it didn’t get any better yet. We’re waiting to see how he feels.”

The Bucs injury report will drop on Wednesday, and we will know if he has practiced at all this week and in what fashion. If the team is without McMillan again against the 49ers in Week 10, look for Ryan Miller to remain on the active roster to have his roster spot.