The Buccaneers know who their top two wide receivers will be in 2022, but the makeup of the group behind Mike Evans and Chris Godwin won’t be settled for some time.
Antonio Brown was the No. 3 before his abrupt departure from the team last December, but the Bucs have Tyler Johnson, Cyril Grayson, Scotty Miller, Jaelon Darden, and Breshad Perriman back from last year’s team. They also signed former Falcon Russell Gage as a free agent and wide receivers coach John Van Dam said that all of them will be vying for playing time as the team moves toward September.
“Really, the way that I look at it and the same thing I’m telling the guys in the room, on this team we’ve got Mike and we’ve got Chris, and those two guys have established themselves in their roles and what they bring to the offense,” Van Dam said, via the team’s website. “Besides that, it’s open season. It’s really competition across the board. They’ve all got different talents and abilities and bring something different to the table. But I’m really looking forward to the competition as this moves along here.”
Johnson had 36 catches last season, which is the most of any of the holdovers other than Evans and Godwin, but it doesn’t sound like that’s going to give him much of an inside track on the No. 3 role this year.