The Carolina Panthers will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 17. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Panthers and 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.
Bryce Young, QB
Bryce Young is a work in progress. Next season will be a big one for his development, but there is no denying that there have been breadcrumbs laid.
In Weeks 12-16, he has not one, not two, but three top-12 finishes. That’s a fun fact by itself, and it only gains when you consider that Patrick Mahomes, C.J. Stroud, and Kyler Murray have three such finishes over that stretch combined.
He was unimpressive from a rate standpoint in the first meeting this season with the Bucs (6.5 yards per pass and a 2.2% touchdown rate), but he was able to volume his way to a fine stat line thanks to overtime (298 passing yards and a touchdown).
Young comes with a wide weekly range of outcomes and limited consistency. Next season might be interesting, but for now, only two-QB/Superflex leagues are concerned about him in a meaningful way.
Chuba Hubbard, RB
Chuba Hubbard shined again last week, clearing 160 scrimmage yards for the third time this season. He has more top-10 finishes at the position this season than Derrick Henry, an outcome I certainly did not see coming.
He’s Carolina’s best chance at success and that’s why you’re playing him. The volume appears to be about as safe as any RB in the league, so I’m willing to overlook a Week 13 dud in this exact matchup. In that game, his 12 carries netted 43 yards and he was unable to rip off a 10+ yard gain.
That’s very much been the exception, not the norm in 2024. You’re playing Hubbard, even if you’d rather not watch the Panthers as a whole.
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 Coker, WR
Since returning to action, Jalen Coker has played over 83% of the snaps in both of his games, and his counting numbers look fine in those games. However, don’t forget about the 83-yard touchdown against Dallas in Week 15.
Without that outlier play, one that you can’t count on in any offense, let alone this version of the Panthers, Coker has turned 10 targets into 35 yards. There might be a world in which he becomes Carolina’s slot receiver of the future and Bryce Young’s star ascends.
Might be.
You don’t have to bet on that to end this season. It won’t cost you much to speculate on him this summer, and there will be roster builds where I go in that direction, but that’s a strategic thing that we can dive further into once this season is in the books.
Mike Evans, WR
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.
Xavier Legette, WR
Xavier Legette is going to be more than a fun accent and interesting eating habits, but not yet.
Throughout his last seven games played with fellow rook Jalen Coker active, he’s turned 156 routes into just 148 receiving yards. There were some interesting scoring metrics on him earlier this season, but those have evaporated lately. Over his last five games, he’s been targeted on just 10.3% of his red-zone routes.
Citing “Carolina red-zone trips” is an issue unto itself given the small nature of it, and if Legette’s share is underwhelming, there’s no real reason to hold onto him, even if his status were to swing in a positive direction (groin), something that Dave Canales seemed awfully non-committal on at Monday’s practice.
You can move on in redraft spots, but I’d keep his name in the back of your mind for 2025.
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.
Adam Thielen, WR
Adam Thielen has caught 5+ passes in all four games this month and has scored in three of his past six, but he has just two games this season with 60+ receiving yards. The rate numbers look good across the board, and this matchup is inviting. However, can you really trust a Bryce Young weapon with your championship on the line?
Thielen posted an 8-99-1 line in the Week 13 meeting and none of it was fluky. Young was looking his way and hit him on a 25-yard pass to send the game into overtime. The game itself was encouraging, and it tracks with season-long trends. The Bucs allow the second-most yards per slot pass attempt in the league this season.
The downside of this offense as a whole stops me from elevating Thielen into my top 30 at the position, but he’s safely tucked inside the top 40 and can be flexed with more confidence in leagues that weigh receptions/yards heavier than touchdowns.
Cade Otton, TE
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.
Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE
The potential is there for Ja’Tavion Sanders to develop alongside Bryce Young, and that’s going to have my attention in the 2025 redraft prep. I think there’s a lot to like in the rookie season, but not with your season on the line after consecutive goose eggs.
This season, just one of his 271 routes has earned an end-zone target. With seven instances in which a single-digit on-field target share was posted (zero targets on 21 routes in Week 16), the floor is too low to garner serious interest as a streaming candidate.
