NFL Player News

Badie memorably collapsed on the sideline after suffering a back injury in Week 4 and has missed the last three months. He could come back and add more confusion to the Broncos running back room for the remainder of the season, but the Broncos haven’t put out anything conclusive to that effect and we’ll likely need to see practice reports to see how close he is to returning.

With Cade Otton back from injury, this was not a surprise. Durham caught 11-of-14 targets for 115 yards and two touchdowns on the season with most of his production coming in two weeks at the end of the season when Cade Otton was out. The second-year pro figures to remain Tampa Bay’s backup tight end in 2025 but that doesn’t give him much fantasy value.

The 31-year-old ended the season by catching 32-of-51 targets for 334 receiving yards and one touchdown. He had some solid games in Tampa Bay and will now hit free agency hoping to have shown enough that another team will give him a chance as a veteran presence in a receiving corps. The Bucs could also opt to bring him back since he was more reliable than Trey Palmer at the end of the season. Regardless of where he ends up, Shepard figures to be off fantasy radars unless there are injuries in front of him.

Palmer finished the season with 172 receiving yards and one touchdown on 12 receptions (22 targets). It was a disappointing effort from the third-year pro, who didn’t seem to take the step forward that many were hoping for. He’s currently third on the depth chart at wide receiver heading into the off-season, but the Bucs will likely bring in more competition for him or players above him, which means that it’s hard to trust Palmer in any fantasy formats heading into next season.

A late-season injury hampered Otton’s breakout season a bit, but the 25-year-old caught 59-of-87 targets for 600 receiving yards and four touchdowns on the season. He also gained 311 yards after the catch, which is over half of his total yardage. He proved to be a valuable receiving threat in Tampa Bay, and if they don’t add another talented receiver or bring back Chris Godwin then Otton could flirt with low-end TE1 value next season.

He also mistimed a reverse in the fourth quarter, which led to a botched handoff with Baker Mayfield and a costly fumble that helped give the Commanders the lead. On the season, McMillan caught 37-of-58 targets for 461 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. He was also second on the Bucs with eight plays of over 20 yards on the season. With Chris Godwin’s contract status up in the air, there’s a chance that McMillan will enter next season as the number two wide receiver in Tampa Bay, which would give him immediate fantasy appeal. However, we’ll have to see if the Bucs bring back Godwin or add any other receivers in the offseason.

It was a highly anticipated matchup between Mike Evans and Marshon Lattimore, but Evans thoroughly trounced his foe in this one. It just wasn’t enough to get the Bucs the win. The veteran ends another impressive season with 1,004 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns on 74 catches (110 targets) despite playing just 14 games in the regular season. He had 15 plays over 20 yards and tied Jerry Rice with 11 consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards. He’ll be 32 years old next season and looking to make it 12 years in a row. At this point, it’s hard to doubt him, which makes Evans a high-end WR2 for 2025.

Tucker was a distant third on the Bucs’ backfield depth chart and didn’t see any action in the playoff loss. He finished the regular season by rushing for 308 yards on 50 carries with two touchdowns. He also caught 9-of-12 targets for 109 yards and a touchdown. The 23-year-old is capable of being a solid backup running back in the NFL and could even supplant Rachaad White in that job next season, but for now, he enters 2025 with little fantasy value.

For years there had been chatter about White losing his starting job in Tampa Bay, but no running back seemed to be able to pry it away from him despite how inefficient White was as a runner. It took a while for the changing of the guard, but this is clearly Bucky Irving’s backfield now. White finished the regular season by rushing for 613 yards on 144 carries with three touchdowns while adding 393 yards receiving on 51 catches (57 targets) with six touchdowns through the air. He had just five plays of over 20 yards all season. He could still be useful to Tampa Bay next year as a receiver, but he’s likely off fantasy radars for now.

It was an impressive rookie season for Irving, who carried the ball 207 times for 1,122 yards and eight touchdowns in the regular season despite not truly taking over the backfield until the final few weeks of the season. He also added 392 receiving yards on 47 catches (52 targets) and had 11 plays over 20 yards. He should have a stranglehold on the lead back job in Tampa Bay heading into next season and given his ability to break big plays and help out in the passing game as well, Irving is at least a high-end RB2 for 2025.

Mayfield was efficient and effective through the air, but the Bucs didn’t have the ball much in this game. In the fourth quarter when the Bucs had a chance to pull away, Mayfield and wide receiver Jalen McMillan were not on the same page on a reverse, which led to a fumble charged to Mayfield and essentially gave the Commanders a late lead. Despite the playoff loss, it was another solid season for Mayfield in Tampa Bay as he threw for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns on a 71.4 percent completion rate during the regular season. He also rushed for 378 yards and three touchdowns, but he did lead the league with 16 interceptions, so that is something that he’s going to need to work on next year since those miscues cost the Bucs in the playoffs too.