There is a void in the Bucs offense whether anyone wants to admit it or not. That was guaranteed to happen if star receiver Mike Evans left in free agency, and he wound up doing so.

Tampa Bay can dwell on the fact that it doesn’t have its best offensive player, or the team can figure how to get the best out of the current group of talented skill players on the roster.

Considering it all, the Bucs still have a pretty good arsenal of skill players if one were to look at the unit. Tampa Bay’s strength is still the offensive line, and an O-line like that would keep any team competitive. But it’s the skill position players that are going to have to collectively pick up the slack with Evans’ departure this offseason.

Bucs Can Still Score A Lot Of Points

Bucs general manager Jason Licht is well aware of the situation that Tampa Bay is in heading into the 2026 season. When speaking to the media this week, Licht shared how the overall feeling is amongst the staff on how the offense will put the pieces together.

“We are where we are,” Licht said. “I know that our offensive coaches are excited to scheme this and have a lot of different weapons to go through. I still think we have the ability to be a top offense in the league.”

Bucs GM Jason Licht – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Optimism should come from the rest of the wide receiver room. Sure, Mike Evans is gone, but there’s a core group to build around with Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMilland and Tez Johnson. Plus, veteran Chris Godiwn Jr. is going into this season healthy. Anything they get from him will only better the team in 2026 being a full year removed from ankle surgery.

The Bucs wound up hiring Zach Robinson to replace Josh Grizzard as the offensive coordinator, but Licht revealed that there were several people when interviewing for the job that were raving about all the other receivers – even if Evans didn’t re-sign with the Bucs.

“When we interviewed offensive coordinators this year, we interviewed a lot, they all were very – ‘What’s the status with Mike? It’d be great if he was back – if not, we love the room and we have a plan for all of them.’ Tez’s (Johnson) name came up countless times, obviously J-Mac (Jalen McMillan) and Emeka (Egbuka) and Chris (Godwin). I think it’s very good right now, but you can never have too many good ones.”

Bucs WR Emeka Egbuka Photo by: USA Today

When asked which receiver is going to play the X position that Evans was commonly in, that has yet to be determined.

“It’s going to work itself out,” Licht said.

Expect Kenneth Gainwell To Be Very Important To Bucs Offense 

Yet it’s not just the receivers who will play a big role in Tampa Bay’s offense this season. Of course Baker Mayfield will too, but a resurgence in the running game will be huge. Bucky Irving was injured for a lot of the season, as were key members of the offensive line.

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

There is a lot of hope that Irving regaining his form. But it’s actually the new running back that Tampa Bay recently signed in Kenneth Gainwell that has Jason Licht thrilled. He sees Gainwell as another Bucky Irving, making for a great combination between the players.

Licht gave Gainwell a rave review, and it sounds like he’s going to be an important piece to this offensive plan.

“He’s very similar – when you watch Bucky, you see Kenny,” Licht said. “He’s very good as a special teams player as well. He’s good in pass protection, very good on third down and we think, this is definitely not somebody that we’re looking to replace Bucky with, but when you have complementary pieces like that, it certainly helps your offense.

“He was a guy that we talked about from the beginning of this process as soon as we hired Zac (Robinson), Gainwell’s name came up often. It also came up a lot with Danny Smith. You receive a lot of texts from other teams and former teams when we sign one of their players, we received a lot there, one of them in particular said, ‘He’s a great player and an even better person, one of the best players we ever had here.’ Very excited.”

Bucs RB Kenneth Gainwell – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Before Licht answered another question, he gave this anecdote about Gainwell already having a positive reflection on the community.

“I went to Wawa the other day and the person behind the counter was like, ‘Kenny Gainwell was in here! What a great guy!”

The answer of who’s going to step up and replace Mike Evans’ production in Tampa Bay?

It’s really going to be everyone.