Fantasy Football Daily - 2022 Franchise Focus Series: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Episode Date: June 27, 2022

Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) invites The Athletic's Greg Auman (@gregauman) to discuss the upcoming season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Franchise Focus Podcast series is brought to you by Underdog Fantasy (@UnderdogFantasy). New users can sign up to Underdog using promo code FANTASYPTS for up to $100 in bonus cash on their first deposit. Visit fantasypoints.com/underdog for more info. The podcast series is also sponsored by Evan's Sports Cards & Collectibles (@evanscards). Follow @EvansCards on Twitter for weekly updates and card releases, Like on Facebook, and head to evanssportsnj.com for more info, including the always-updated eBay store. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fantasypoints.com and the 2022 franchise focus series is sponsored by Underdog Fantasy, the best and easiest way to play fantasy sports, with no waivers, trades, or lineup setting for season-long drafts. New users can sign up to Underdog Fantasy Fantasy, PTS, for up to $100 in bonus cash on their first deposit. That's promo code FantasyPTS. Head to FantasyPoint.com slash Underdog for more information. Now let's get to the show. It's time for the Fantasy Points podcast brought to you by FantasyPoints.com. Top level fantasy football and NFL betting analysis from every perspective and angle,

from numbers to the film room with a single goal to help you score more fantasy points. You know what it is. It is a continuation of the franchise focus podcast series here at FantasyPoint.com. I'm thrilled that we've been able to line up 32 beats. writer interviews to kind of give you a little bit of an insider perspective here to all the teams in this season because, well, if you're playing fantasy football, you better know all 32 teams in the NFL. And I am guaranteeing you, by the way, my name's Joe Darlane. You didn't need to know that because I'm not the star of this show. The star of the show is this gentleman, Greg Alman of the

athletic, who does an unbelievable job covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and has for years. You've probably heard him on the Sirius XM morning show with John Hanson, giving his fantastic Buccaneers insights. You can follow him on Twitter at Greg Alman. That's A-U-M-A-N. Greg, I'm sure you get this joke a lot, but you're not going to be busting into Melissa here at all, are you? You're not going to be busting into any songs.

I kind of wondered if when he died, I would get less of those, and it really hasn't changed at all. Yeah, I'm so sorry about that. My buddy, T.J., though, he'll be listening to this podcast, and he would never forgive me if I had a guy named Greg Alman on the show and didn't make an Alman Brothers joke. So, you don't want me singing. That's the main thing to know.

Well, you know, Dwayne never sung and he was an incredible guitar player, maybe the best slide guitar player ever. I don't know if, I don't know if you can play guitar either, Greg. You don't want me playing guitar. Okay, all right. Well, let's stick to what you can do. By the way, you once again, follow his work at the athletic. Greg Alman at G-R-E-G-A-U-N-A-N on Twitter.

Let's get into what the people are here for, Greg. talk about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Look, we know Tom Brady's good. Not going to ask about Tom Brady. It's going to be year to year touch and go at this point. Everybody else wants to know, though, about some of these other big time players for the Buccaneers. And maybe big time is a little too literal right now. Let's get to the backfield with the recently extended Leonard Fournette, who, Greg, you've been on the fantasy show. You understand the importance here. Leonard Fournette, basically since the end of the 2020 season has been a stud for fantasy purposes for the Buccaneers. But you reported some of your colleagues reported on the Buccaneers beat.

And heck, Leonard Fournett admitted it himself. He showed up to OTAs roughly 20 pounds overweight, 240 area, wants to get down to like that 220, 225 range. Was it noticeable to you watching him on the field during OTAs that he might have been packing on a few too many pounds? Yeah, a little bit. I don't know if he had like a little too tight a jersey on that day or what. But yeah, it looked like, I mean, he's only there for, I was there for two days of the mandatory minicamp.

They don't really go through a ton of stuff with the A-listers, if you will. So it wasn't like he looked slow. You know, I kind of cringed a little bit when he, he probably was a little bit more honest with us than he needed to be in saying 240-something. And again, I've got his money now. Right. Well, but again, there's a little bit, I think this is something where, I think Lenny's gotten a little big in the summer in the past and has been good about being able to get himself where he wants to be, you know, come last week of July when training camp starts. And I think Todd Bowles kind of made it clear that that's all they care about.

Like they're not as worried about what people are looking like in early June. But again, Leonard Fred's a guy who missed a playoff game and the end of last season with a hamstring injury. So you don't want to put more weight on him than you need to. I think he's pretty clear in saying he wants to be at 228 to 230 right in there and is comfortable he can get there. So again, you kind of in June that that's something you can kind of laugh at. And if we're still talking about it in August or September, that's a whole other deal. Well, and then obviously that begs the question. It offers up the segue that we're going to have.

Ronald Jones is no longer in Tampa. He's moved on to Kansas City. Rashad White's a third round pick of the Buccaneers. And you well know this day and age, you spend a third round pick on a running back. that's a premium pick. That's a guy who, if not year one, year two, the team really needs that guy to be a contributor. In the past, though, Tom Brady, trusting running backs in past protection and receiving, that's been kind of something that he hasn't really done in terms of rookies, even guys like James White. That's a guy who essentially had a red shirt year and then

became the James White we know now. Talking to the coaches, your observations, especially given Leonard Fournett's potential weight issues. What if you come to maybe expect and what are you going to be looking for from Rashad White this summer? Yeah, I'm certainly intrigued by Rashad White. I think it would be very easy for him. I don't know that he's going to crib that much into Fournett's role. Fournett's going to be a three-down back. He's going to be a primary back.

They're giving him $7 million a year. The bucks don't do that lightly. So I think it's kind of like giving him as many carries as you want to without putting him at risk of feeling overwhelmed by it. what's intriguing is that Rashon White could very easily step into or kind of borrow from, steal from two different roles. The perceived Kishon Vaughn number two back role, which is kind of spelling Lenny, we don't know if it's every third series or how often they'll want to give him time off. But also, G.O. Bernard's role as the third down pass catching back. And that's something that Lenny kind of grabbed last year. you know, Bernard as a supplemental back, as a complimentary back, didn't really, I think he had less than 200 yards of total offense last year. And some of that was being limited by injuries, but Fournette was much more a complete back.

You know, I think this time last year, if we'd done fantasy podcasts, there was still this like, who should go higher Ronald Jones or Leonard Fernette type talk. Silly in hindsight, of course. Looking back, it's like, yeah, exactly. Because Ronald Jones was very quickly an irrelevant back in terms of fantasy football. And I think there's definitely an upside. Like you said, to put a third round pick into a player, there's a built-in expectation that comes with that. And like you said, Tom Brady can kind of negate that by being Tom Brady and not being trusting immediately of young running back. So they did this same thing two years ago with Kishon Vaughan.

And Kichon, again, barely played that Super Bowl year, kind of had one important, I think he had a touchdown catch laid against maybe the Chargers or something like that. helped them get a win, but really wasn't a relevant fantasy or NFL player his rookie year. So I do think to hear what they've said, everything that a rookie's done so far is mainly just what they've learned, what they've shown their ability to retain and understand. But that's been really good for Rashad White. So I think we'll know a lot more, you know, second week of August, once he's had time in pads, once he's had preseason games to show in real time kind of how he can predict maybe other quarterbacks that are in the game.

But like you said, the single most important thing to control his ability to get on the field will be how much they trust him to be able to protect Tom Brady because that's the most important thing he has to do on the field. He's an able pass catcher. He's a guy that I think they could even kind of slide out to the slot and use as an extra receiver sometimes. But no, I think he's got great upside. I don't see as much in Vaughn or Bernard. Like they're kind of getting marginalized by Lenny's contract and Rashad White. getting drafted. And ultimately the Buccaneers are going to be a past first team, though, and that leads to another question. The big one, I think probably for the Buccaneers this offseason

maybe not for us from a fantasy perspective, but if the Buccaneers are going to be a Super Bowl contender, they're going to need Chris Godwin back on the field sooner rather than later. Obviously, tore his ACL very late in the 2021 season. What are you hearing about Chris Godwin's recovery? It's kind of mysterious. They will say very consistently how pleased they are with his progress, how he's ahead of schedule. They will not say what that schedule is, however. So I think the ambitious, the optimistic take would be that he's back and participating in training camp when it starts, maybe light in the preseason and back when the season starts.

The more realistic window would be to say the important thing is to have Chris Godwin healthy for the second half of this season for the playoffs, and they wouldn't want to do anything to rush that or risk that. So I don't know right now if it's a lock that he's on the opening 53. He could be a guy that starts the year on the Pup list, gets six weeks to recuperate, and week 70s there for the last 12 weeks of the season. I don't know.

I think there's definitely nothing but positivity around Chris Godwin, but there's also what we haven't heard, either from Arians when he was in charge or Todd Bowles now as head coach, is that, you know, we hope to have him for the start training game. We hope to have him for week one. You know, I think the signing of Russell Gage, giving a number three receiver $10 million a year is definitely guarding against a less optimistic return.

And Gage would step in fine who would be a solid number two until Godwin is ready, if you will. So I think more than anything, there's just a realization that the most important thing is getting Godwin healthy and right and back to himself when he's on the field this fall. Hey, Fantasy Points listeners, Ben Cucanis here, letting you know that the franchise-focused series of podcasts is brought to you by Evans Sports Cards and Collectibles. The best place for cards, collectibles, autographs, and more. All of our memorabilia giveaways are always from Evans' sports cards. He always has the latest boxes and releases from Panini, Upper Deck, Tops, and more. It's a family-owned small business, not a super store that you have to deal with. They're located in-surseys, so great for an in-person visit, but just as good to visit their eBay store as well.

Follow at Evans' cards on Twitter for weekly updates and card releases, like them on Facebook, and head to Evansportsnj.com for more info, including the always updated eBay store. Some releases this week are the 2021 Panini Contenders and Optic Football, as well as the 2022 Panini Select Baseball. That's Evansportsnj.com online and at Evans' cards on Twitter. Tell them the guys from Fantasy Points sent you. So there was a, you know how the Twitter era. Twitter goes these days. They like to take a quote. And maybe it's not a misquote, but it's something taken a little bit out of context. And I think a number of days ago, I saw like some headlines out there.

Tom Brady saying that Russell Gage needs, quote, a lot of work. And, you know, for somebody who here understands that the Buccaneers last year when Antonio Brown was there, Evans, Godwin, and Brown were all putting up big numbers on a consistent basis, knowing well that this is an offense that can support multiple. wide receivers. Well, Greg, I want to hear your read on this situation because I went back and I saw the full quote that Tom Brady had about Russell Gage. And it was so much softer than like that kind of impact headline, like saying like essentially he needs to work into the role because we need him in a big way. And when I hear from Russell Gage and I heard what he said about Tom Brady

this offseason, it's hard for me to not be optimistic about him in this offense. What was your read when they signed him? What's your read now? Because frankly, when I saw the buck signed him, I was like, ooh, that is sneaky good. And I think he's got a shot to catch a lot of passes. Yeah, no, it's funny. Tom Brady talked a week ago Thursday. And I actually missed it.

My family went to Costa Rica for a week's vacation. So I had to leave that morning and missed Tom talking. So I didn't hear the exact quote you're speaking to. But the bucks have been very positive about Russell Gage. There was this cool moment that somebody found. I forget who first found it. but like in the post game of one of the Falcons games last year, he came over to Godwin. Russell Gage did and made a point to tell Godwin, like how much he really looked up to Godwin and Mike Evans

and how much he watched them, respected them, enjoyed the way they played the game. So that was really neat that you had that happen. And then, you know, for whatever reason this spring, they were able to pry him away from the Falcons. Falcons, you know, let Julio Jones go. Now they're without Calvin Ridley for a year. So, I mean, Gage could have very well been in a major role. I mean, obviously they used their top draft pick on a rookie who will be their number one receiver. But he would be a solid, too, if he went back to Atlanta.

And I think the Bucks kind of took advantage of that uncertainty with who the quarterback might be. Honestly, they probably paid Russell Gage more money than I thought Russell would get on the open market. I mean, receivers got crazy money in free agency this year. So for him to get two years, $20 million guaranteed, it's a three-year, $30 million deal, but it's really $2.20 is impressive. That's giving him money based on who he'll be and not who he's been. He's a guy who's never had more than four touchdowns in the season. But they really like him. I mean, Russell Gage is a guy that was more of a special team's player at LSU was kind of still developing as a receiver in the NFL, which not many guys get a chance to really do as much as he has. So they're super excited about him being somebody who can do any number of things out of the slot. can play outside, is a good blocking receiver. Again, I think, you know, what Russell Gage's fantasy role and value is kind of hinges on how much Chris Godwin we see. If Godwin's there in week one, he's just a strong number three, which, you know, barely

registers, I mean, it's a flex type spot in fantasy. But if Godwin isn't ready to go, and if you have a month or two at the beginning of your number two, he's going to get all those Godwin perks of benefiting from defenses is focusing hard on Mike Evans, potentially Rob Grancowski being back. And I think, again, he's never had more than four touchdowns in the season. He could easily do much better than that and not even overextend himself this season. Well, you mentioned them already, and the next question that that's going to come. And just so the listeners understand this, we're recording this roughly about a week,

week and a half before we're actually publishing the podcast. So this potentially could change at any point. But we're going to be touch and go with Tom Brady for the rest of his career. same exact situation with Rob Grunkowski. Heck, maybe even crazier with Rob Grunkowski. Do you have any read on the Gronk situation right now as it stands, Greg? Yeah, I think, you know, I think the general sense of what we get from everybody we talk to with the Bucks is a cautious optimism that he's back for this year. I think they're letting Gronk be grunk for the summer, if you will.

And again, like there's really no obligations for a player in the next, as I say this, five weeks until camp starts. This is kind of as close to a downtime as NFL play. have. So it's not like he's missing anything by not being signed. They know who he is. They know he takes good care of himself on his own. He doesn't need to build any kind of rhythm with Tom Brady. They're going to have that, you know, we can practice their back fine with that. So no, like I said, right now they certainly have squirled away the money in the remaining salary cap to anticipate him coming back for another year. They use a fourth round pick on a tight end, but that's nothing that you would say, oh, they're definitely ready for life without him. You know, I think we

we would have, if they were really worried about him not signing, I think we would have seen them signing a plan B type. There's not a ton of great tight ends out there, uh, but signing a Kyle Rudolph or somebody like that, they would, would give them a more solid fallback to guard against Gronk, not signing. I think, again, whether it's mid July or whenever, he'll be signed. He'll be there when training camp starts. And come week one, he'll be catching touchdowns from Tom Brady again, as far as I see things. Yeah, I think that's the general expectation as well. And that's what's going to make this next question, maybe a little bit difficult because we know how much Tom Brady and to a great degree of success leans on players he trust. You know, you go out, you sign a veteran

Russell Gage and you re-sign Leonard Fournett to give you some proven players in those spots. But is there potentially a player who might not be on the tip of the tongue of the average fantasy player who might contribute a little bit more than you think for the Buccaneers this year? maybe somebody that the organization is high on that we just might not be thinking about at all at this stage. Yeah, I mean, we talked a lot of Rashad White. I mean, he's a fun late round flyer as a secondary back as a guy who would probably step into a lot if they trusted him and Fournette went down. You know, I mean, Kate Otten is their fourth round pick. He's a tight end who, again, if you want to guard against a world where Grankowski does not come back and plan for the unexpected, Otten could easily

step in and get reps and have 30, 35 catches, four or five touchdowns without blinking an eye. You know, he's coming off an injury. He did not get to participate in the OTAs in mini-camp. So he's still very much an unknown commodity. But I think there's every expectation that by September he'd be healthy. Again, if Grasen comes back, Cam Brade is certainly a known commodity as a number two. Now Otten's like a third tight end. So there's no lock of him being a huge part of this offense.

but I do think there's upside there. The receivers are kind of a log jam in that obviously Evans-Godwin gauge are the top three. And to me, there's a significant drop-off there. And anything beyond that is strictly a flyer in fantasy football, whether that's taken a shot at Cyril Grayson or Versaude Perriman or Jalen Darden or, you know, I mean, Scotty Miller would be the other one you bring up. There's a big drop-off after those top three. And again, if there's a world where Godwin isn't there in the first half of the season or the first month of the season, then that number three is a relevant player and someone that's going to be on the field a lot. But it's not clear who that is.

I mean, right now, again, I would say that four through nine with the bucks are very close. And there are guys that we think will be contributors that could be playing for another NFL team in September just because they've got some really good depth and nothing is for certain. So no, the flyers, like I said, Rashad White would be that late round, give him a try. Kate Otten would be fun that way. Everybody else they know about, you know, like I said, I wouldn't mess with Bernard. I wouldn't mess with Keishon Vaughn. And the depth of receivers is just, unless you're just really like a guy, would be playing darts right now. You sickos who play preseason DFS and preseason fantasy football are going to be playing attention to that number four through number nine wide receiver battle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

And I'm sure we'll hear from Greg Alman later in the summer. summer, whether you follow him on Twitter at Greg Alman, A-U-M-A-N, or on the series X-DM-N-M-N-N-N-or where he is a very popular guest. You follow him and he will give you all the information on the bucks you need to know, the recovery from Chris Godwin, gronk status. He'll keep you up to date. Greg, thank you so much for joining us here on the Fantasy Points podcast. It was wonderful catching up with you, and I'm sure we'll talk to you soon. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points Podcast. Remember to subscribe write and review on your favorite platform and come join the roster at fantasy points.com.