The top of the Bucs wide receiver depth chart is set. The real intrigue comes deeper in the receiver room.
The wide receiver room has long been a cornerstone of the Buccaneers roster, anchored by the stalwart tandem of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. However, this year, the big story going into training camp is not about Evans or Godwin, but about the future of the position, particularly the looming battle for the third receiving spot between Trey Palmer and Jalen McMillan.
There is little that training camp will reveal about Mike Evans that 10 straight 1000-yard seasons do not already say. New Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen, like his many predecessors, is sure to build the offense around Evans’ potent game-breaking ability and near-invulnerability to man coverage.
Chris Godwin may have a more eventful training camp as he transitions back to the slot after playing 61.6% of his snaps out wide last season. While he still eclipsed 1000 receiving yards last season, he recorded his worst yards per route run (1.73) since entering the NFL per PFF. While alignment alone is not enough to explain Godwin’s reduced efficiency, a return to the slot might agree with his skillset a bit more.
Possible aging aside, the Bucs know what they have in their top two receivers. The intrigue spikes with the third receiver position. The incumbent Trey Palmer had a solid rookie campaign, particularly considering he was a sixth-round pick. While he was a regular fixture throughout the season, his production picked down the stretch, exactly what a team wants to see from a rookie.
Over a third of his receiving yards and a quarter of his receptions came in the last three games of the season. Palmer also had a spectacular 56-yard touchdown reception in the Bucs’ wild card win over the Eagles. Palmer began the offseason with a solid justification for beginning the 2024 season as Tampa Bay’s WR3.
Apparently, the Bucs had other ideas. Drafting former Washington WR Jalen McMillan in the third round was a clear indication that the WR3 position is very much up for grabs.
McMillan and Palmer have both historically played out of the slot, which where Liam Coen insists that Chris Godwin will be lining up this season. Neither McMillan or Palmer will be unseating Godwin this year, so they will have to duke it out for playing time at the “Z” or flanker position opposite Mike Evans.
Palmer’s speed might give him a leg up by opening up the field with deep routes. However, McMillan’s feel for zone coverage could afford him more targets and opportunities to make plays as it did for him in Washington.
One skill that could elevate one receiver over the other is an improvement with contested catches. Neither Palmer or McMillan have been all that reliable in contested catch situations. Palmer came down with just 33.3% of his contested targets last year, and the Washington offense rarely put McMillan in a situation where he had to make contested catches. If either can demonstrate that he can make strides with catches in traffic, that could win him the WR3 job.
This competition was very clearly engineered by the front office and coaching staff. Neither player has established himself in the NFL and are in a position to push each other through training camp and the preseason to greater heights. All Jalen McMillan has to do is keep Trey Palmer angry, if Palmer’s 2023 pre-game tweets are to be believed.
Regardless of who wins the WR3 role, the Bucs will enjoy more depth at receiver than last season. After making the roster as an undrafted rookie last year, WR Rakim Jarrett returns with a little more seasoning and a clear path to the 2024 roster.
Though he was used sparingly as a receiver last season, Jarrett ended his 2023 campaign with a 41-yard catch against San Francisco. A quad injury robbed him of the rest of the season, but Jarrett will have a leg up on Tampa Bay’s depth chart. He played more special teams snaps last season than any receiver currently on the roster. A continued role in kick and punt coverage should guarantee him a roster spot at the end of the preseason.
The Bucs signed Sterling Shepard last month in what appeared to be a move to fortify Tampa Bay’s receiver depth. However, the longtime Giants receiver’s production has declined steadily over the last few years and is unlikely to pose a real challenge for playing time.
While Shepard has a history of catching passes from Baker Mayfield at Oklahoma, he will need to prove he can still be productive after eight seasons in the NFL. The Bucs made it clear last year that they can get by with just five receivers on the roster, so Shepard will need to have a strong camp to justify his place in Tampa Bay.
The rest of the receiving corps consists largely of developmental prospects and camp bodies. Undrafted rookies Lateral Jones, Tanner Knue and Kameron Johnson will have to be special teams standouts to have any shot of making the final roster. The same goes for 2023 practice squad members Cephus Johnson III, Raleigh Webb and Ryan Miller, who could find themselves back with Tampa Bay in the same capacity following training camp.
