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The NFL’s 2020 season calendar extends by March 16; at 4:00 p.m. on the seventeenth, the 2021 marketing campaign will start and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will formally transition from champions to defending champions.
On the identical time, 2021 free company will start and the Buccaneers will probably face an extended listing of gamers needing new contracts. The size of that listing will depend upon how a lot work the staff can get accomplished with a number of dozen members of their Tremendous Bowl LV-winning roster who will not be but underneath contract for the upcoming season.
Head Coach Bruce Arians believes the Buccaneers have a good shot at preserving the core of the staff intact for one more championship run. There’s purpose for optimism, given the obvious motivation of a lot of these pending free brokers to maintain the staff collectively, however it is going to take a number of work. A few of that work could already be underway with that new league yr lower than a month away.
And so, within the weeks main as much as the beginning of the brand new league yr, we’re going to have a look at 10 key gamers who’re at the moment poised to turn out to be unrestricted free brokers on March 17. We began with linebacker and revered team captain Lavonte David earlier this week; now we flip our consideration to the participant who led Tampa Bay’s high-powered passing assault in receiving yards within the postseason.
Age: 24 (turns 25 on Feb. 27)
Expertise: Getting into Fifth NFL season
How Acquired: Drafted out of Penn State within the third spherical (84th general) in 2017
Earlier Contract(s): In 2020, Godwin accomplished the usual four-year rookie contract he signed after being drafted in 2017.
Rank in Professional Soccer Focus Top 150 NFL Free Agents for 2021: Second. PFF remark: “Godwin is an exceptionally gifted and versatile receiver who has nice fingers — dropping simply 4 passes in his first three seasons— and he has excelled from each an out of doors and slot alignment.”
2020 Efficiency: From a quantity standpoint, Godwin’s manufacturing in 2020 dropped off fairly a bit from his monumental breakout marketing campaign of 2019. Nevertheless, that was primarily as a consequence of a string of accidents throughout the first half of the season and the staff’s deeper-than-ever core of offensive weapons.
Godwin’s 840 yards and seven touchdowns on 65 catches was down from his 2019 line of 86-1,333-9 however he nonetheless completed second on the staff in all these classes to fellow starter Mike Evans (Rob Gronkowski additionally had seven landing catches). He missed 4 of the season’s first eight video games as a consequence of, so as, a concussion, a hamstring pressure and a fractured finger however he had 4 touchdowns within the final three video games earlier than the playoffs and completed the common season along with his first 100-yard outing in a win over Atlanta. That propelled Godwin to a productive postseason through which he caught 16 passes for a team-leading 232 yards and yet another rating.
Godwin continued to be the Bucs best participant of the slot, lining up there on 45% of his snaps. He additionally continued to offer worth far past the stat sheet as he was as soon as once more probably the greatest and most prepared blockers within the NFL. His presence lined up “tight” on 19% of his snaps, far larger than most receivers, is a sign of how typically he was purposely deployed as a part of the first blocking scheme on operating performs.
Profession Accomplishments: Godwin was the eleventh receiver taken within the 2017 NFL Draft however his numbers by the primary 4 seasons of his profession rank among the many greatest from that draft class. His 244 receptions rank third behind JuJu Smith-Schuster and Cooper Kupp; his 3,540 yards are third behind those self same two; his 24 touchdowns are tied for second behind Smith-Schuster; his 14.51 yards per reception are second behind Mike Williams and his 9.97 yards per goal lead all the class.
Godwin’s greatest season up to now was the aforementioned 2019 marketing campaign through which he completed second to the Saints’ Michael Thomas with 95.2 receiving yards per recreation. That is the one greatest season by way of yards per recreation for any receiver drafted in 2017. These efforts earned Godwin his first Professional Bowl choice on the finish of his third NFL season.
Different Potential Free Agent Large Receivers: Nelson Agholor (Las Vegas), Danny Amendola (Detroit), Antonio Brown (Tampa Bay), Keelan Cole (Jacksonville), Corey Davis (Tennessee), Will Fuller (Houston), Kenny Golladay (Detroit), WR A.J. Inexperienced (Cincinnati), T.Y. Hilton (Indianapolis), Marvin Jones (Detroit), Allen Robinson (Chicago), Curtis Samuel (Carolina), JuJu Smith-Schuster (Pittsburgh), Sammy Watkins (Kansas Metropolis)
High Large Receiver Prospects in 2021 NFL Draft: Rashod Bateman (Minnesota), Ja’Marr Chase (LSU), Terrance Marshall (LSU), Rondale Moore (Purdue), Chris Olave (Ohio State), DeVonta Smith (Alabama), Amon-Ra St. Brown (USC), Kadarius Toney (Florida), Jaylen Waddle (Alabama), Tylan Wallace (Oklahoma State)
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