Busts on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Busts can ruin your fantasy team's drive to a championship. Our staff searches for them on the Buccaneers.

Footballguys Staff's Busts on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Footballguys Staff Published 07/07/2025

© Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images busts

The following feature is a free preview of our content. If you like it, click here to sign up for access to our Footballguys Subscription, and you'll get all of our content. We're so confident you'll love it that we offer an industry-leading 30-day Money-Back Guarantee, ensuring zero risk.

RELATED: See More Like This here.


As we race toward August, Footballguys.com will examine one team per weekday with our quick-hitting Team Sleepers feature. These players might not be complete busts, but we will be highlighting players our staff thinks will disappoint this year and underperform their average draft position (ADP).

Go Deeper: See in-depth projections for every Buccaneers player here >>>

This is a weekday series that will stretch through August 1. If you like this and want another, come back the next workday. Another will be here.

Please note that our staff has identified the players listed below. The official Footballguys stance for every Buccaneer can be found on our projections page.

Busts on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Reasons WR Mike Evans Could Be a Bust

  • Mauricio Gutierrez: Last year, he barely managed to produce 1,000 yards again. He benefited from some absences. In 2025, there are too many pirates in Tampa and not enough treasures to share among them all.
  • Andy Hicks: Eleven consecutive 1000-yard seasons come to an end in 2025. His ADP allows no upside. 
  • Phil Alexander: Evans has aged gracefully so far, but entering his age-32 season, a sharp decline could come fast and without warning.
  • Jeff Bell: Evans needed a huge late-season push to hit his ceremonial 1,000-yard threshold and ceded the top receiver spot to Chris Godwin
  • Craig Lakins: Though it pains me to include him here, I can't forget the way he barely squeaked out another 1,000-yard season in 2024. He's being drafted a round too early for my liking. 
  • Julia Papworth: The elder statesman will need to bank on another double-digit touchdown season, another 1000 yards receiving, all while another year older and surrounded with more talent to make his ADP worth it in 2025.
  • Colton Dodgson: He was targeted on 28.7 percent of his routes in 2024. That involvement likely needs to hold for Evans to return value at age 32.
Already a subscriber?

Continue reading this content with a 100% FREE Insider account.

By signing up and providing us with your email address, you're agreeing to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive emails from Footballguys.
Photos provided by Imagn Images
Share This Article

Featured Articles

 

2025 Footballguys Subscriber Contests - Enter Now

Compete for Glory in the ultimate fantasy football challenge, and face off against the sharpest GMs in fantasy football: Footballguys Subscribers.

08/21/25 Read More
 
 
 
 

More by Footballguys Staff

 

2025 Footballguys Subscriber Contests - Enter Now

Compete for Glory in the ultimate fantasy football challenge, and face off against the sharpest GMs in fantasy football: Footballguys Subscribers.

08/21/25 Read More
 

Backfields In Motion, Receiving Corps In Flux, Evolving Values: The Fantasy Notebook

Bob Harris

Bob Harris brings you a big-picture look at fantasy-specific news and notes from around the NFL with the Fantasy Notebook.

08/23/25 Read More
 

Superflex Draft Strategy, by the Numbers

Dan Hindery

How to Attack 2025 Superflex Drafts to Maximize Value

08/21/25 Read More
 

3 Fun Rookies and Where They Are Being Drafted

Clayton Gray

A look at three fun-to-draft rookies and where they are being drafted on four common drafting platforms.

08/24/25 Read More
 

Lessons Learned From Over 200 Drafts

Dave Kluge

Fantasy football drafts are right around the corner, and Dave Kluge shares the knowledge he's learned from doing over 200 drafts this offseason.

08/22/25 Read More
 

NFFC High-Stakes Drafting

Dan Hindery

Everything you need to know to try to win $250,000 in the $350 Online Championship and an introduction to our new NFFC tools

08/03/25 Read More