Jalen McMillan
A talented but chronically banged-up third receiver in a Tampa Bay room where Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin come first — usable when healthy and fully cleared, but his profile this year is fragility plus a rotational target share, and I could not find in-season coverage confirming this week's status.
Role
With Mike Evans gone, the Bucs' pecking order under new OC Zac Robinson runs Egbuka (featured, Kupp-style movement role) then Godwin, with McMillan as the No. 3 perimeter/field-side receiver playing meaningful but not full-time snaps and drawing target volume mostly when the top two are shadowed, hurt, or the Bucs go heavy 11-personnel. Behind him, Tez Johnson and Ted Hurst are the names who eat into his snaps whenever he misses practice time, and his 2025 body of work (12 catches, 178 yards on 15 targets in four late-season games after a preseason neck injury) is a small sample to build a role on. When the full quartet was on the field late last season, Baker Mayfield concentrated almost all of his targets on the top receivers, which is the pattern McMillan needs to stay in.
He was the fantasy standout of Tampa's 2024 stretch run (top-10 WR scoring over his final five games), he's been a repeated camp standout, and the offense lost Evans — meaning vacated perimeter and red-zone volume that has to go somewhere. If Godwin's own injury history resurfaces, McMillan is the direct beneficiary and steps into a genuine every-down role in a pass-heavy scheme with an aggressive quarterback.
He has not strung together healthy football since 2024: a neck injury wiped out most of 2025, a knee issue cost him the entire following preseason, and now a calf. Even at full health he's third in line behind a featured Egbuka and Godwin, and Tampa's target concentration means the No. 3 receiver is a bye-week body more than a weekly starter. The repeated soft-tissue absences also cost him the practice reps that would let him take the job.
Where analysts split
Whether McMillan is the clear next man up for a Godwin-sized role — i.e., whether the late-2024 flashes reflect real standing in Robinson's offense — or whether the 2025 lost season plus this year's knee/calf issues mean Tez Johnson and Ted Hurst have effectively closed the gap on snaps behind Egbuka and Godwin.
Research confidence: thin. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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