With rankings season in full bloom, Pro Football Focus has another positional list out. This time they have put together their top 32 wide receivers in the NFL and the Bucs are represented well.

That makes sense, as receiver is one of the deepest position groups on the team. Tampa Bay has invested $107 million along with first- and third-round picks in their receiver corps. Those investments have paid off well thus far for the team. And PFF has recognized that by placing not one, but two of Tampa Bay’s receivers on their list.

Mike Evans

They say Father Time is undefeated. That may be true, but Mike Evans is making him go to the bell in all 15 rounds as it stands. Former Pewter Reporter and now lead draft analyst for PFF Trevor Sikkema placed Evans ninth overall and right at the top of his “Tier 3” grouping. He wrote of Evans: “Despite missing time with a hamstring injury, the 30-year-old Evans topped 1,000 receiving yards for the 11th consecutive season and earned the second-highest receiving grade of his career at 90.2.”

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

While this 1,000-yard campaign is of the “by the skin of his teeth” variety, the 2024 season was one of his best. He closed out the year on an absolute tear. From Week 12 through the playoffs, he averaged seven catches, 95 yards and 0.75 touchdowns per game. Over this same time period he also averaged 3.18 yards per route run.

Tampa Bay used Evans in different ways down that stretch, in part because of the loss of his running mate Chris Godwin to a season-ending injury. That change in usage, prioritizing the short-to-intermediate over him as a deep threat brought out the best in the 31-year-old Evans. Look for more usage of Evans playing in the slot to continue in 2025.

Chris Godwin

Chris Godwin’s rank on Trevor Sikkema’s list was double that of Evans at 18th. He was the second receiver in the “Tier 4” group. Sikkema noted: “Godwin would rank higher if not for the uncertainty surrounding his return from a dislocated ankle suffered in 2024. Before the injury, he was on pace for a potential career year, earning an 85.7 receiving grade. Since 2019, his cumulative WAR of 1.39 ranks 13th among wide receivers.”

As impressive as Evans was at the end of last year, Godwin was equally as amazing to lead it off. At the pace he started the season he would have ended the year with 121 catches for 1,399 yards and 12 touchdowns – all would have been career highs. It would have topped his high-water mark of 2019 when he earned a second team All-Pro nod.

Bucs WR Chris Godwin – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

A torn ACL sapped Godwin of his explosiveness in 2022 and the start of 2023. But over the last seven games of 2023 through his season-ending injury in 2024, Godwin posted an 88-1,079-7 stat line over 14 games while averaging 2.24 yards per reception.

Will his recovery from this injury require the same 18-to-24-month time frame to see him fully back to his peak powers? If so, he will be closer to age 31 than 30 at that point. But the only thing anyone can judge Godwin off of is his most recent performance, which was incredible. The Bucs re-committing to Godwin this offseason with a three-year, $66 million deal signals they feel good about his recovery and his prospects to return to form.

Bucs’ Dynamic Duo

Tampa Bay was one of seven teams to feature two receivers on the list. They join Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Detroit, Los Angeles Rams, Miami and Washington. Not coincidentally, this helped the team secure the second spot in PFF’s receiving corps rankings.

Earlier this offseason I took a stab at ranking Mike Evans and Chris Godwin as a duo stacked up against other established duos in the NFL. I had them ranked extremely favorably in tier one – fourth overall.

No matter how you slice it, Tampa Bay’s receiving depth chart is one of the biggest strengths any team in the league has.

Future Buccaneers Stars On The Horizon?

Despite a slow start, last year’s third-round pick, Jalen McMillan, finished the year as a fantastic complement to Evans. His play in the back half of the year has Bucs fans excited for year two for him. Tampa Bay also selected Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Both will find footing as accompaniments to the big two and could eventually make their own marks on lists of this sort in the future.