After scorching out of the gate during the first five weeks of his rookie season, Emeka Egbuka disappointed fantasy football managers for the back half of 2025. Will he bounce back in 2026, and is Chris Godwin a value at his current fantasy football ADP? Ian Hartitz dives in as part of his Tampa Bay Buccaneers fantasy football team preview.

Are Emeka Egbuka And Chris Godwin Priority Targets In Fantasy Football?

• WR1: Emeka Egbuka (WR23 in our consensus fantasy football rankings)
• WR2: Chris Godwin (WR42)
• WR3: Jalen McMillan (WR71)
• WR4: Ted Hurst (WR89)
• WR5: Tez Johnson

Emeka Egbuka's rookie season started off quite nicely. In fact …

• He was the overall PPR WR3 in Weeks 1-5 behind only Puka Nacua and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
• Egbuka managed to score 102.4 PPR points during his first five games. The only other receivers to ever surpass that: Puka and Randy Moss.

Whether it was via silky smooth double-moves, taking the top off the defense with a deep post, or simply serving as a reliable underneath option, Egbuka looked the part of the next great Ohio State professional wide receiver for a good chunk of his rookie season.

And then the Injury Gods decided to be dicks. Emeka suffered a hamstring injury in the second half of the team's Week 6 win over the 49ers, and while he played through the pain and didn't miss any actual game time, the impact was clear both from a fantasy standpoint (PPR WR43 Weeks 6-18) as well as from the ole eye test. Per ESPN's Ben Solak …

"Egbuka remained a key contributor to the Buccaneers' passing game throughout, but some of the wind left his sails. A  Week 6 hamstring injury robbed him of his top speed; NFL Next Gen Stats tracking data had Egbuka with 11 routes of at least 18 miles per hour through the first five weeks of the season … and 11 such routes in the remaining 12 weeks, after the hamstring injury."

Ultimately, Egbuka is one of just 33 rookie wide receivers to earn 115-plus targets since 2000—and the list is littered with far more hits than misses. This, coupled with the early-season flashes, injury context from both himself plus his QB, and the potential to both see more targets and play as the "Z" receiver in year two, makes Egbuka a pretty easy high-end bounceback candidate to believe in. Our fantasy football projections have Egbuka earning 121 targets (tied for 16th), and that feels low. He's my WR20 (highest of the Fantasy Life rankers) and firmly deserves to be in the same tier as guys like Ladd McConkey, Zay Flowers and Luther Burden.

And then there's Chris Godwin, who posted near-career-worst efficiency and counting numbers coming off his devastating 2024 dislocated ankle. Now, there's potential for Godwin to be healthier in 2026—reminder, he only trailed Ja'Marr f*cking Chase in PPR points before getting hurt in 2024—although Father Time is undefeated, and it's very possible the 30-year-old veteran's best years are in the rearview mirror.

Now, expecting Godwin to get back to partying like it's 2021 might be wishful thinking, but triple-digit targets sure seem to be on the table for someone who has flashed high-end WR1 ability as recently as 2024. Not a bad deal for someone presently going off the board as fantasy's WR41 in early ADP. I'm a bit ahead of the market here (my WR39) and would be REALLY overjoyed to pound the table for Godwin if there simply weren't so many other receivers in that range that I like (Jayden Reed, Josh Downs, Jordan Addison, Ricky Pearsall and Quentin Johnston, to name a few).

Also note: Discerning the rest of this room is tough due to the reality that we could see a rotation of sorts—potentially impacting Egbuka and Godwin's overall route rates as well. A great "problem" for the Buccaneers to have, but annoying for fantasy nerds. The thought process comes from Tampa Bay OC Zac Robinson noting that Hurst is a "true X" with a skill set that has some similarities to Mike Evans (chill, Robinson added the caveat that you're never going to replace a Mike Evans). Anyways: It'd make sense if Jalen McMillan, Hurst and perhaps even pint-sized speedster Tez Johnson divide up the No. 3 receiver's role here. The reality that any potential winner is still just the No. 3 option in an offense not exactly guaranteed to resemble the 99 Rams has me mostly refraining from investing in this group in fantasy land.

Join Our Newsletter

Trusted by 400,000+ fantasy football players. Get access to Fantasy Life's free award winning newsletter and tools, all in one step.

Email Address

Subscribe

By registering or logging in, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.