On Wednesday, the Buccaneers got exciting news on the injury front as they try to get healthy for the stretch run. After getting Chris Godwin Jr. and Bucky Irving back on the field in the last few weeks, Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan are both on their way back as well. Both receivers are still on IR, but they had their 21-day practice window opened on Wednesday.
What does that mean for their potential return this week against the New Orleans Saints in Week 14? How will their eventual return impact the rest of the receiver room, led by impressive rookies Emeka Egbuka and Tez Johnson? Let’s take a look at the latest news and the fantasy impact of their eventual return.
Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan injury updates
Ian Rapoport reported on Wednesday that Evans is having his practice window opened off IR, and he will be back on the field for practice today.
Evans has been on IR since Week 7 when he returned from a hamstring injury only to suffer a broken clavicle on this play against Detroit:
Since Evans has been medically cleared after his broken clavicle, the question will just be how quick he’ll be ready to ramp up his activity. He definitely seems to be a possibility this week, although the Bucs have typically been cautious about activating players too fast, so they could be patient and give Evans another week rather than rush him back.
Evans’ teammate Jalen McMillan will also be back at practice for the first time since suffering a neck injury back in Week 2 of the preseason. He was cleared last week and will also start ramping up with Evans to hopefully return in the coming weeks.
Emeka Egbuka and Tez Johnson fantasy football impact
Egbuka and Johnson have both flourished with Evans and McMillan sidelined. Egbuka has 52 catches for 791 yards and six touchdowns in his 12 games. He’s become a starting receiver in just about every format, but he could have a smaller target share when Evans returns. He’d drop from a solid WR2 with WR1 upside to a shaky WR2 if Evans takes back his role as the top target.
Evans’ return could allow Egbuka to find more space for big plays, like he made earlier in the season, but it would likely reduce his volume significantly, especially if McMillan and Godwin are in the mix as well. I still trust Egbuka’s talent to give him upside, but he would be much higher risk with more options available.
Johnson would have a similar situation, although he’d end up even further down the depth chart. The shifty receiver from Oregon has shown plenty of home-run potential taking short passes for big plays and catching deep passes as well. With less volume, though, he’d be hard to trust as anything more than a bargain flier if he was the fourth or fifth receiver on the team.
The Bottom Line
The Bucs face the Saints, Falcons, Panthers and Dolphins in the four weeks remaining in most fantasy formats. None of them are great matchups for receivers, but they are all serviceable if Baker Mayfield has the offense firing on all cylinders. If someone dropped Evans in your season-long league, he’s a great addition with proven upside.
Monitor practice reports this week to see if Evans will actually play this week or needs another week to recover. If he is available, he could be on a snap count, which makes him a high-risk play at $6,000 in DFS fantasy contests like the NFL $2.5M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st]. Jalen McMillan is $4,000 and brings bigger value potential, but since he has missed so much time, counting on him to step straight into a big role seems unlikely. Egbuka’s value at $6,300 will be dramatically impacted by the Evans and McMillan news throughout the week. If everyone is off him, though, he could make a good contrarian shift late in the week if he’s off everyone’s radar.
