- Kyle Pitts has the best fantasy performance of his career: The soon-to-be unrestricted free agent caught 11 passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Atlanta Falcons to an upset victory
- Mike Evans gains over 100 receiving yards in his return: The veteran Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver led the team in receiving production in his return, while fellow returning wide receiver Jalen McMillan also contributed in his first game of the season.
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Atlanta Falcons @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers reach full strength at wide receiver: Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan were activated from injured reserve, giving Tampa Bay all of its wide receivers for the first time this season.
It was unclear how the Buccaneers would rotate Evans, Chris Godwin Jr., McMillan and Emeka Egbuka after Egbuka was their first-round pick. We hadn’t had the chance to find out because McMillan suffered a neck injury in pre-season, which cost him the first fourteen weeks of the season. Godwin has only played five games this season, and Evans has only played four, and there hasn’t been a game where Evans and Godwin both played.
Last season, when everyone was healthy, Evans was the X receiver, Godwin the Z, and then in the slot while McMillan was the Z in 11 men. Once Godwin suffered a season-ending injury, McMillan was the Z in both 11 and 12, while Sterling Shepard took over in the slot. This season, Egbuka has played everywhere, depending on who is healthy. He usually played at the X receiver spot in place of Evans. Tez Johnson has emerged as a Z receiver while Godwin has been away. Godwin’s role in 11 over the past three weeks has depended on whether Johnson or Sterling were on the field.
Evans and McMillan had opened their practice window a week ago. Both were limited in practice all week, but both were activated for this game. Godwin was also limited in training on Monday due to his ongoing fibula injury. Tampa Bay released Ryan Miller on Wednesday to make room for the returning receivers, and the New York Giants claimed him. This gave Tampa Bay seven wide receivers for this game, and Kameron Johnson was the seventh option.
Godwin’s playing time has increased each week since returning from injury, and that trend continued this week. He played more in the slot than he has in recent weeks this season because there are so many other receivers who can play on the outside. He didn’t produce much until a touchdown and two-point conversion early in the fourth quarter. Atlanta has performed better against slot receivers than outside of it, so he could have bigger plays in the coming weeks.
Evans and Egbuka were generally in a rotation at the X receiver spot, while McMillan and Johnson rotated at the Z receiver, although Tampa Bay used different pairs of wide receivers. A common alternate pairing was McMillan at X and Godwin at Z in two-receiver sets. Another was Evans at X and Egbuka at Z with 11 staff. The Buccaneers tended to pass when Evans was on the field, but they were more balanced with the other receivers. Shepard was no longer part of the rotation. It wouldn’t be surprising if he is inactive in the coming weeks or possibly released and signed to the practice squad.
This meant a significant decrease in offensive snaps for both starting wide receivers. Evans and McMillan will at least play more once they can practice fully, though it’s also possible this is the rotation the Buccaneers stick to moving forward. Johnson could be cut from any league where he is still listed. Egbuka probably shouldn’t be in a fantasy starting lineup going forward despite gaining 64 yards in this game. The shorter playing time will make it harder to trust him, and the Buccaneers’ next two games are against top-10 teams to avoid fantasy points for wide receivers. If your fantasy team’s wide receiver depth is strong enough, Egbuka could be drafted.
Tampa Bay is adjusting without it Cade Otton: The Buccaneers tight end was inactive due to a knee injury.
Otton has been a consistent presence in Tampa Bay’s offense over the past two seasons. He has played 1,659 offensive snaps over the past two seasons, which is second only to Trey McBride. He played 92.7% of the Buccaneers’ offensive snaps this season. Payne Durham was the second tight end option at 30.9%, followed by Devin Culp at 5.5%. However, when the Buccaneers needed a tight end with 11 men on third downs, it was Culp more often than Durham.
Otton did not train on Monday and Tuesday and was limited but ultimately inactive on Wednesday. Tampa Bay opted to stick with two active tight ends instead of activating Tanner Taula off the practice squad.
Tampa Bay stayed with 11 men for most of the game, and when it needed more blockers, it used an extra offensive lineman instead of the traditional 12 men. Durham was the main tight end for early downs, while Culp was on third downs and other obvious passing situations.
Neither was involved in the passing game until Culp scored a six-yard touchdown. If Otton continues to miss time, neither should be considered in most fantasy leagues. If you’re in a deep enough league and you need one of the two, and Oton continues to miss time, Culp is the better option.
The Falcons continue to tinker with their wide receiver depth: The Falcons have nine wide receivers on the roster, while no other team has more than seven, and they still activated someone from the practice squad.
Atlanta’s top two wide receivers are Drake London and Darnell Mooney, but London has missed four straight games due to a knee injury, and he still couldn’t practice this week. David Sills V emerged as the third wide receiver, and he was the second receiver while London was out. He had just eight receptions for 65 yards in 13 games before Thursday.
Casey Washington and Ray-Ray McCloud III are the only other wide receivers on the team with at least 100 offensive snaps prior to this game, but McCloud played his last game against Atlanta in Week 4, while Washington has been a healthy inactive for four straight games. Dylan Drummond has become Atlanta’s third wide receiver with London out, but the team has used twelve men as its base attack.
Deven Thompkins and KhaDarel Hodge were both active for Atlanta, despite Hodge being limited from practice earlier in the week due to a shoulder injury. They were just special teams players, and Thompkins was returning kicks. Chris Blair was activated from the practice squad for the first time this season and was the fourth wide receiver.
Not only were London and Washington inactive, but so were Jamal Agnew and Malik Heath, who was recently cut from the Green Bay Packers now that they are at full strength at Wide Receiver and being claimed by Atlanta. It wasn’t surprising to see Heath inactive as he has only been with the team for a few days. Agnew being inactive was a surprise, as he has been the team’s primary kick and punt returner this season when healthy.
This is a position group to avoid over the last two weeks unless London returns. Atlanta should prioritize adding at least one additional wide receiver this offseason.
Various comments
- Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield and running back Bucky Irving were both full participants in practice this week. They were dealing with shoulder injuries and were limited at times last week.
- Tampa Bay used Sean Tucker significantly while coming within 30 feet of a goal for the second week in a row. This led Tucker to score the first touchdown of the game on a one-yard run.
- Falcons running back Nathan Carter was back in the lineup after being a healthy inactive last week.
- Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts Sr. was limited all week due to a knee injury and was questionable, but was active. Pitts’ playing time has been excellent this season, joining Trey McBride as the only tight ends to route on more than 85% of their team’s passing plays. This was the best fantasy performance of his career, as he finished with 11 receptions for 166 yards and three touchdowns.
Table notes
- Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. These plays have been removed from the other three statistics.
- Objectives may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be due to an obviously thrown pass, where the NFL could give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data does not.
- Carries are only possible on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles do not count toward the total number of carries in the game.
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