The Tampa Bay Buccaneers started the season 3-0 with three thrilling come-from-behind victories in the final minutes. However, their luck ran out in Week 4 against the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, suffering their first loss of the season.
Apart from the loss, the Buccaneers suffered another blow against the Eagles when running back Bucky Irving got hurt. Injuries have taken a heavy toll on the team from top to bottom, as players like Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka, and Jalen McMillan are also dealing or have dealt with injuries.
Bucky Irving Injury Update
Irving has not played since getting hurt against the Eagles and is also out for the Week 7 game against the Detroit Lions. He has not returned to practice yet, and most expect Irving to possibly return in Week 10 as the Buccaneers have a bye in Week 9.
A fourth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, few anticipated Irving’s rapid rise. Initially, he was the clear RB2 in his rookie season, but his role steadily expanded, culminating in three starts. By 2025, Irving had emerged as the Buccaneers’ RB1, bursting out of the gate with 237 rushing yards, 197 receiving yards, and two total touchdowns through the first four games.
However, he took a heavy hit near the end of the first half against the Eagles. At first, it was clear Irving wasn’t entirely healthy. Yet, after returning and delivering an excellent second half, the reaction seemed more from shock.
Unfortunately, in the days that followed, it became clear the injury was far more severe. After undergoing MRIs, Irving was spotted in a protective boot, relying on crutches to walk. The Buccaneers will not rush him back, and given their current form, Todd Bowles will allow Irving more time to heal.
Buccaneers Players’ Fantasy Outlooks for Week 7
Here’s what PFSN’s Kyle Soppe wrote about the notable Buccaneers players’ fantasy outlooks for the Week 7 matchup against the Detroit Lions:
Baker Mayfield
The smart kid in class is always going to end up with a good grade on a group project, right?
Even if surrounded by average (or worse) students, he/she won’t let the team fail. I know this not from experience of being that type of elevating talent, but from marrying that person (yes, we met during a group project in high school and only one of us targeted the group as an easy grade).
It worked for me, and it is working for any of you who made a commitment to Baker Mayfield this season.
Coming into the season, we thought this would be a loaded offense, but every week brings new obstacles. We had games with and without Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, and Bucky Irving.
None of it matters. Emeka Egbuka has been at the center of most of Mayfield’s production this season, but he was lost on Sunday, and it didn’t matter. Tez Johnson is the size of your average accountant, and Kam Johnson is a name I associate more with the National Basketball Association.
Doesn’t matter. They both scored, helping Mayfield clear 19 fantasy points for the fifth time in six weeks. I’d rather he not be forced to produce with one hand tied behind his back, but we are seeing him elevate talent weekly, and there are no signs of regression.
Last season, Mayfield had 12 touchdowns and 10 interceptions on balls thrown 3+ yards past the sticks. Through six weeks, his 74 such attempts this season have yielded nine scores and zero picks. He’s the George Pickens of quarterbacks, in that there is a direct correlation between confidence level and production.
As long as you believe that Mayfield would tell you to start him in fantasy, you start him in fantasy.
Emeka Egbuka
If only we had known that wide receivers in Tampa Bay were contagious before putting all our hopes and dreams in Emeka Egbuka.
The outstanding rookie suffered a hamstring injury in the third quarter last week and is expected to be sidelined for some time. The Bucs get the Saints next week before going on bye in Week 9; we don’t yet have a Week 10 target return date, but it’s easy to see a path to that.
Tez and Kameron Johnson are the names to know in this offense if you want a piece of the Baker Mayfield for MVP campaign, especially indoors in a potentially offensively charged contest.
It’s a little hard to imagine, but if the manager with Egbuka has a losing record, why not start a trade conversation? If that’s the case, the rest of the roster is likely depleted, giving you the ability to swoop in with a volume deal that lands you an elite asset who closes the fantasy season with the Panthers and Dolphins in Weeks 16-17.
Mike Evans
Mike Evans suffered what Todd Bowles labeled as a “low-grade” hamstring injury in Week 3, and while that sounds good, let’s not forget that this is a 32-year-old receiver who is in the process of seeing Egbuka replace him.
Obviously, not all hope is lost. Evans still has plenty of juice (27 targets earned in his three games) and when at full strength, he stands to slide into the back-end of my WR2 rankings, especially with Chris Godwin struggling to near full strength and Bucky Irving also battling to get on the field.
There are some instances where a productive player goes down with an injury, and I’ll encourage you to buy at a discount. Opportunities like this present themselves all the time as a fantasy manager is holding a distressed asset because of their standing in your league and is looking, for lack of a better way to say it, to make a bad deal. To take pennies now for a dollar in the future.
This isn’t that. Evans missed three games a season ago, and these soft-tissue injuries always carry an aggravation risk. We haven’t seen the future Hall of Famer reach 60 receiving yards in a game this season, and I’m not sure that changes in a meaningful way when he returns to the field.
Assuming he sits this week, you’ll be able to free up a roster spot by using your IR, and that’s fine. Just be careful in assuming that you’re getting a difference-maker when he returns to your lineup.
