2026 Team Previews: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2026 Preview
All ADP data is courtesy of Fantasy Pros.
** = target in drafts at this ADP
Drafted Everywhere
**Bucky Irving, RB (ADP: 36, RB20): Irving wound up becoming one of 2025’s biggest busts due to injury, which is always a threat for high usage backs of his size and stature. When on the field, however, Irving remained electric. His rushing efficiency cratered from his rookie season, falling from 5.4 yards per carry to 3.4, but his receiving work was brilliant. He caught three passes per game for 27.7 yards, and scored three touchdowns in the receiving game. There’s a lot of worry about Irving’s injured shoulder, which wound up being the injury that dogged him most last season, and has been rumored to still be lingering. Recent reports say that Irving is a “full go” in camp though, and if he is, this ADP is a screaming value.
The only issue with Irving last year was his health. In his 10 games, Irving rushed for 55+ yards in eight of them, and managed that floor in every single game in which he saw 15 or more attempts. He managed 80+ yards from scrimmage in six of his 10 games, and at least one touchdown in three of those tilts. When Irving was healthy for a full season as a rookie, we saw him put up more than 1,500 yards from scrimmage with eight touchdowns. This is an elite RB with first-round pick level talent. Sure, his size makes him a bit more of an injury risk, but when you can get a possible Top 5 player at the position as the RB20, those are the kinds of picks that can win you a league.
Emeka Egbuka, WR (ADP: 46, WR18): Egbuka’s rookie stats – 63 receptions, 938 yards, six touchdowns – look very good for a first-year player. They are. But the 2025 season still felt like a disappointment because of the path to those stats. Egbuka was shot out of a cannon to begin the season, averaging five catches, 89 yards and a touchdown per game through the first five games of his NFL career. Egbuka cleared 100 yards three times in his first eight games, and scored all six of his touchdowns by Week 10. After Week 10, his production fell off a cliff; in the final eight games of 2025 he averaged just 2.9 receptions per game and 32.6 yards. He didn’t just hit a rookie wall, he slammed into it at 200 miles an hour.
In a case like this, a peek under the hood is necessary and we will do just that. Per Reception Perception, Egbuka’s usage was counter to how he profiled as a prospect. Coming out of Ohio State he looked billed for a slot-mostly role, and wound up lining up outside over 68% of the time. A lot of that had to do with an early injury to Mike Evans pressing him into duty on the outside, but clearly he tore it up. His work down the field was stellar, turning in a 58.6% success rate on nines and an 84.6% success rate on posts. He also cooked on digs (84.6%), curls (85.7%) and slants (80.6%). He finished 2025 with a 79.3% success rate vs. zone (56th percentile) and a 71.4% mark vs. man (67th percentile), both of which are good marks for a rookie but they were down from his midseason ranks. I would put much of the blame for that on a Week 6 hamstring injury that he never allowed to cost him time, but maybe should have.
Overall, we saw that at his best Egbuka is capable of elite production. We saw him sustain an injury in Week 6 and his production dip pretty much from the point of that injury. We also know that Evans is gone from the offense, vacating almost eight targets per game and leaving Egbuka as the likely top target of this passing game. With a ton of targets that need to be soaked up, and a LOT of end zone chances up for grabs, Egbuka has plenty of room for growth. His ADP hasn’t been dinged too much based on the swoon to end 2025, likely because most are attributing it to the injury he sustained. Egbuka’s a fine pick at this ADP, and I think he can definitely return value on it.
Chris Godwin, WR (ADP: 90, WR39): Godwin is set for a huge role in this offense with Mike Evans gone, and while in the past he’d likely be set for the WR1 spot, his injury history and Egbuka’s ascendence likely will cap him at the No. 2 target for this team. For years Godwin was an extremely productive receiver out of the slot who bordered on elite depending on how many touchdowns he could manage. He’s suffered some devastating leg injuries over the years though, and his return in 2025 from a freakish 2024 broken leg was spotty at best.
There was some great stuff, like a 108-yard, one-touchdown blowup in Week 17, but the majority of last year was his managers holding their breath for him to stay healthy and dealing with below-expectation target and reception totals. In nine games, the Week 17 explosion was Godwin’s only game above five catches and aside from Week 17 and a 78-yard game in Week 13, Godwin never even hit 60 yards in another game. At age 30, Godwin’s best days could very well be behind him. They likely are. But if he is healthy all season, there’s still a clear path to returning value on this ADP based on volume alone, and increased touchdown opportunity with the red zone beast Evans gone from the offense. This is a good place for Godwin to go with the downside built in, and room for upward mobility.
Interesting Players
Kenneth Gainwell, RB (ADP: 97, RB37): Irving was one of the most disappointing players of 2025, and now he shares the backfield with Gainwell, arguably fantasy’s biggest surprise of 2025. Gainwell wound up being a pretty high usage back for the Steelers last year earning a career-high 114 rushing attempts for 537 yards and five touchdowns, while also drawing a career-high 85 targets for 73 receptions, 486 yards and three touchdowns…all the most of his career.
For years, Gainwell has been a thorn in the side of fantasy options we actually rostered, just churning out quality work and impressing coaches and earning his way onto the field to our chagrin. Pittsburgh was the first team to actually expand that role for Gainwell, and with more work he proved he could deliver big games. He finished 2025 ranked No. 29 per PFF among all RBs, eclipsed 100 yards from scrimmage five times as the No. 2 back, scored in six different games with six of his eight scores coming from six yards or closer. Gainwell is not even close to Irving in terms of explosiveness, but he’s proven in his career that he belongs on the field, and proved last year he can produce when given the chance. Gainwell is going to be involved, and he could significantly impact Irving’s snap count on obvious passing downs because he’s a far superior pass blocker and capable pass catcher. I don’t think he’ll see as much work as he did in 2025 because Irving is a higher level talent than Jaylen Warren was, but Gainwell’s ceiling with an injury to Irving is greater here than it was for the Steelers. Gainwell’s a very solid pick in this range, and should be playable all season, with increased value in weeks when you’re hurting with injuries or bye weeks.
**Baker Mayfield, QB (ADP: 142, QB18): Mayfield was a letdown in 2025, and after extension talks broke down this offseason the vibes certainly feel off. My thing this year is finding value on pass-first QBs. This, to me, is the highest-ROI on hunting value in drafts, and Mayfield might be this year’s Dak Prescott for me, who was a previous year’s Joe Burrow. My biggest key to Prescott being a value was that we want pass-first QBs to hit 4,000 yards and 35+ touchdowns, with a bit of wiggle room if one or the other stat can go bonkers. Mayfield missed those marks pretty badly last season, but he was banged up and this offense experienced a swarm of injury bugs with a big appetite. In 2024 we saw Mayfield light it up with 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns. He also hit the 4,000-yard mark twice with the Bucs before last year’s fall-off. And while this is about passing QBs, Mayfield does contribute a bit on the ground. Tampa Bay isn’t designing runs for him, but he can scoot and scramble when needed, and has multiple seasons with three rushing TDs.
Mayfield has that massive blowup potential we want from a later-drafted QB, and while he did lose Mike Evans, it clarifies roles for Egbuka and Godwin. He also has two high-end pass-catching RBs at his disposal here. Most importantly, the fantasy community is treating him as an afterthought so he can be drafted and dumped if you’re unhappy with early results.
Deep Cuts
Jalen McMillan, WR (ADP: 179, WR61): McMillan had a lost 2025 that we can’t learn a ton from, but his rookie season was a little underrated. McMillan scored eight touchdowns; we all know touchdowns aren’t sticky, and can be fluky, but he still did it and he scored those touchdowns on just 37 receptions and 461 yards. His second season did not afford a proper opportunity to figure out whether that was a rookie mirage or not, but Evans’ departure absolutely opens the door for McMillan to have run.
The X receiver spot is wide open, and McMillan seems like the clearest bet to fill it. In his limited action last year he posted a 57th percentile mark vs. man (69.6%) and shined on go routes (66.7%) and digs (76.5%), the latter of which comprised more than 20% of his routes run. McMillan was pretty bad vs. zone, which doesn’t cripple his potential for fantasy relevance if he’s going to live on the outside, but his limited chances against press went poorly (60%, 27th percentile). That’s more concerning. McMillan is a clear third banana for this offense, but he has the ability to strike for big plays. He might flirt with WR3 status in a good year, and if he does that this ADP will look fairly silly. I believe he has the leg up for the X receiver race, so I’ll say he’s looking like a very good value. Keep expectations reasonable; I am not predicting a star breakout, but rather a useful player who is often going undrafted at all.
Ted Hurst, WR (ADP: 276, WR95): Hurst, a third round pick out of Georgia State, has a little buzz. He’s 6’3, 185 lbs, fast as hell and was very productive in 2025 with 71 receptions, 1,004 yards and six touchdowns. His selection, plus Evans leaving, caused many to connect the dots that Hurst will be Evans’ replacement. Maybe, but I’d hold the horses. While he has talent, he only put up 40th percentile marks vs. man and a 28th percentile mark against zone in college with slants and go routes making up about 40% of his routes.
He might eventually find his footing with this team, but there’s a lot of players ahead of him including McMillan, whom some might just throw away after a lost year, but who was productive as we just discussed. Hurst is a fine dynasty rookie draft pick, but as far as redraft goes I don’t think this is a dart I’m throwing.
Cade Otton, TE (ADP: 215, TE30): There’s a non-zero chance Otton has a touchdown explosion with Evans’ red zone and goal line targets missing from the offense, but that’s a risky bet. Overall, even with Evans gone, it’s a crowded pass-catching scene and Otton’s not the type of athlete to bet on going beyond his normal, stable production. Otton’s not a guy you draft, he’s a player you pick up when the TE-friendly matchups reveal themselves, and he’s facing one.
Tez Johnson, WR (ADP: N/A): Johnson had some brief buzz when the Bucs were injury ravaged and he had some fun plays. Johnson is a nice weapon for the real-life Bucs, but he’s too limited both in size and in refinement to become a regular fantasy option.