The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face the Carolina Panthers in Week 17. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Buccaneers skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 17 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Baker Mayfield, QB
It’s easy to look back and see an underwhelming Baker Mayfield game against these Panthers in a narrow Week 13 victory in overtime (235 passing yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions), but I’m just fine with writing that off.
In the three games since, Mayfield has a 71.2% completion rate and a 9.1% touchdown rate. He continues to add just enough with his legs to make an impact (79 rushing yards in those games).
When you consider that he’s been better at home than on the road this year (17 touchdown passes in front of his home fans with at least 19 fantasy points in four of his past five such games), I think we are looking at a top-10 quarterback this week that I’d be more comfortable in playing than Jared Goff or Jordan Love.
The Panthers are the second most vulnerable defense in terms of deep completion percentage this season (55.2%), and with a pair of vertical threats, I expect Tampa Bay to pick at that scab consistently.
Mayfield’s final line last week was strong (303 passing yards with another 42 on the ground and two scores through the air), and he could have given you another 7.8 points if Jalen McMillan didn’t have a 46-yard touchdown wrestled away from him at the last minute.
Bucky Irving, RB
Irving is the Buccaneers’ lead running back and has worked his way into the must-start tier at the position. We’ve seen this offense support two top-20 running backs since Week 10, and while projecting that to continue is optimistic, Irving shouldn’t have any issues living up to his end of the bargain as a heavy favorite against a team he ran for 152 yards and a touchdown against in Week 13.
I mentioned that Week 10 stat – if you simply give Irving 32% of Rachaad White’s production over that window, he’d be averaging 22.6 PPR points per game.
Saquon Barkley is fantasy’s RB1 this season at 22.4 PPG. However, it might be too low if you are currently viewing Irving for 2025.
Rachaad White, RB
It would appear that the time is finally here. The Buccaneers have succumbed to Fantasy Football Twitter and finally optimized their backfield.
OK, so that’s probably not an accurate portrayal of what went on here, but if last week is an indicator of things to come, we are finally getting what we want out of the running game in Tampa Bay.
In the disappointing loss to the Cowboys, Bucky Irving out-carried Rachaad White 16-3, while White caught seven of the eight passes thrown his way. We made it!
White didn’t do much against the Panthers in Week 13 until he doubled his rushing total with a long rush in overtime to set up the game-winning field goal. His ranking fully hinges on how you think this game plays out.
I believe that the Bucs roll, and if that is the case, White managers are going to be swimming upstream. I’ve got Irving ranked as a strong RB2 while White is more of a middling Flex option, understanding that I’m projecting a more grounded attack for the Bucs in the second half.
Jalen McMillan, WR
This is a safe space, right?
Is Jalen McMillan poised to be what we wanted Tank Dell to be?
That is, an explosive player that shows signs of promise as a rookie and parlays it into a weekly starter role in fantasy circles during Year 2?
McMillan has three straight games with at least four catches and a touchdown reception — over the past 20 years, only three rookies have topped that streak (Odell Beckham Jr., Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Tank Dell). There was an 11.6-point swing that took place late in the game last week where a potential 46-yard TD was wrestled away from him, but the 5-57-1 stat line was still plenty productive, and it’s clear that he has Baker Mayfield’s trust.
The Bucs are in need of a big performance, and if the shallow Panthers elect to blanket Mike Evans, a career day from McMillan is certainly within the range of outcomes.
Mike Evans, WR
Week 17 Status: PLAYING
Evans has cleared 135 air yards in three of his past four games, and while the Jalen McMillan breakout seems to be here, it hasn’t done much to slow Tampa Bay’s WR1.
Evans has seen 14 end zone targets this season, the ninth time he’s hit that mark; he needs 182 yards over the next two weeks to lock in his 11th straight 1,000-yard campaign.
There are no concerns for this week as the Panthers allow deep touchdown passes at the fifth-highest rate and couldn’t slow Evans in the Week 13 meeting (8-118-1). In that contest, Baker Mayfield completed five of his eight deep passes, and with Evans being the favorite to be on the other end of those bombs, there’s a non-zero chance he gets to that 1,000-yard plateau by the end of the week.
Cade Otton, TE
Week 17 Status: OUT
Cade Otton sat out last week with a knee injury, and Baker Mayfield suffered. He suffered so much that he threw for north of 300 yards with a pair of touchdowns and completed 72.1% of his passes.
I’m going to keep saying it: Otton isn’t a reliable fantasy option when Mike Evans is on the field, nor does he impact the direction of this unit in a meaningful way. It’s really that simple. I write a million words weekly, and I just keep copy-pasting that intro until the higher-ups tell me that no one is consuming the Otton portion of this article.
With Mike Evans on the field in 2024:
- 14.1% on-field target share
- 19.5% red-zone target rate
- 4.3 aDOT
Without Mike Evans on the field in 2024:
- 21.1% on-field target share
- 30% red-zone target rate
- 7,3 aDOT
Otton hauled in a pass on Tampa Bay’s second attempt in Week 15, a blowout win over the Chargers, and guess what?
I didn’t blink, and you shouldn’t have either. I’m a selfish person, and I can’t fade a player I don’t roster, so I’ve taken to betting his under on receptions of late to leverage the rampant hype. I laddered his total down as low as my sportsbooks would let me.
Unless you play in a points-per-snap league, Otton’s status ahead of Week 17 isn’t one you should be worried about.