If Chris Godwin can’t go on Sunday in Week 2, what can you do in fantasy?
Week 1 was not a great start for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their 2020 NFL season. Armed with the greatest quarterback of all time Tom Brady in his age-43 season, the Buccaneers went into the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and lost to the division rival New Orleans Saints by double digits. Even worse, wide receiver Chris Godwin now finds himself in concussion protocol.
The Fantasy Footballers are skeptical about Godwin being able to play in Week 2’s home opener vs. the NFC South rival Carolina Panthers on Sunday afternoon. Even though Carolina is rebuilding under first-year head coach Matt Rhule, the Buccaneers can’t be feeling good about themselves after how Week 1 went. Brady looked old, Godwin got hurt and Mike Evans isn’t at 100 percent.
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So if you rolling with a bunch of swash-buckling Buccaneers this season on your fantasy team or if you drafted Godwin high in your snake draft a few weeks ago, what are you to do when it comes to setting your lineup this weekend ahead of Tampa Bay’s home opener vs. Carolina? If Godwin plays, maybe kick him down to the flex or put him on the bench this week. He may just be a decoy.
This may not be the best week to start a bunch of Buccaneers in fantasy.
There’s a good chance you drafted Godwin to be your low-end WR1 or your very high-end WR2 this year. He is coming off a Pro Bowl season, but you may have to wait at least a week or so before you can reap the benefits of using such a high draft selection on him. While he may get a touchdown like Evans did last week, look for Godwin to be limited on Sunday if he does play.
As for the Buccaneers, they may need to lean on Evans a tad more than they were expecting, even if he’s dealing with an injury himself. Brady might look to his tight ends Cameron Brate and O.J. Howard a bit more than last week. Of course, Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich might take a page out of what the Las Vegas Raiders did to Carolina on the ground in Week 1.
This is where you can get value with Buccaneers this week. Tampa Bay may be coming off a bad loss, but this is a home game for the Buccaneers going against arguably the worst team in the division. Week 2 might be a good opportunity to start Leonard Fournette or Ronald Jones II at running back or in the flex. Just look at what Josh Jacobs did for the Raiders vs. the Panthers.