The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will kick off the 2021 season as defending Super Bowl champions for the first time in nearly two decades. The team famously returns all 22 starters from their Super Bowl championship team. Yet, one question generated Tuesday looms over: Is Chris Godwin going to play for the Bucs in Week 1?
Update 9/8: Chris Godwin was listed as a full participant in practice Wednesday.
Chris Godwin was limited in practice on Tuesday with quad injury
With just two days left until the season opener, news broke that the Bucs added Godwin to their injury report — putting his season debut in jeopardy. The Bucs announced via their Twitter account prior to filing their official injury report on Tuesday:
“We rested several vets and added WR Chris Godwin to the injury report.”
It’s just speculation at this point. However, the addition of Godwin to the injury report is significant enough to warrant a minor cause for concern. It just so happens that Godwin wasn’t the only wide receiver listed on the injury report. Veteran Antonio Brown did not practice on Tuesday but was a full participant on Monday. He had offseason surgery and was given a knee injury denomination.
Godwin’s place on the injury report came as a bit of a surprise. He was listed as a limited participant in practice on Tuesday with a quad injury. Still, if there is one position with plenty of depth in Tampa, it is almost certainly in the WR room.
While both Brown and Godwin were held out of practice on Tuesday, there is little doubt that Mike Evans, Scotty Miller, Tyler Johnson, and rookie Jaelon Darden couldn’t fill the void, if necessary. Furthermore, Rob Gronkowski, O.J. Howard, and Cameron Brate represent valuable targets at tight end. Therefore, this top receiving corps is more than prepared to potentially deal with injuries at the position this season.
Will Godwin be active for Thursday Night Football?
Despite his placement on the injury report, there’s little speculation Godwin will miss Thursday Night’s game against Dallas. There seems to be no worry from head coach Bruce Arians or anyone else in Tampa as to whether or not Godwin will suit up.
It is, however, something to monitor closely come Wednesday when they prepare for their final walk-through. Entering his fifth year, Godwin hauled in 840 yards on 65 receptions in the regular season last year.
For his career, Godwin has recorded 3,540 receiving yards and 24 touchdowns.
Though game statuses haven’t been officially announced, the Bucs did state that starting safety Jordan Whitehead will miss the game against Dallas. Arians said that safety Mike Edwards will fill in for Whitehead.
Given that last bit of information, it’s relatively comforting for Godwin’s availability on Thursday that it seems like the Bucs are proceeding with him as the starter opposite Evans.
Godwin is a must-start in fantasy if he plays
Godwin missed four games last season in an injury-plagued season. Nevertheless, he led the Buccaneers in receiving yards per game (70), ending the year as a high-end WR2. Godwin finished 2020 with 65 receptions, 840 receiving yards, and 7 touchdowns.
The 25-year-old receiver has been productive over the last two seasons in active games. Godwin has averaged nearly 8 targets (4.5 from the slot), 6 receptions, 83.6 receiving yards, and 18 PPR fantasy points per game in that time. He’s also averaged 81 receiving air yards per game, a metric that indicates how far a pass traveled in the air before it was caught.