The Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered the 2026 season believing they had enough talent at wide receiver to overcome the departure of franchise legend Mike Evans. Five weeks into the season, however, the difference between what Tampa Bay expected from its receiving corps and what Evans has accomplished in San Francisco is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. According to Pro Football Focus' latest wide receiver rankings, not a single current Buccaneers receiver cracked the top 32 entering Week 6. Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka, and Jalen McMillan were all left off the list, while Evans climbed to eighth overall after another impressive start to the season with the 49ers.
Evans has earned a 92.1 PFF receiving grade, the second-highest among qualifying
wide receivers with at least 20 targets. He is also averaging 3.05 yards per route run and ranks third in the NFL with nine contested catches. Through five weeks, Evans has recorded 24 receptions for 326 yards and three touchdowns, showing that even at this stage of his career, he remains one of the most productive receivers in football. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay's receiving corps has struggled to establish the same consistency. Godwin has recorded 19 receptions for 179 yards without a touchdown, earning a 67.3 receiving grade that ranks 50th among qualifying receivers. His average depth of target sits at just 2.8 yards, highlighting how differently he is being utilized compared to Evans, whose average target comes 14.2 yards downfield.
The absence of Evans has also placed additional expectations on Egbuka, who was supposed to take another step forward in his second season. While the young receiver has shown flashes of his potential, Tampa Bay has yet to establish a consistent replacement for the size, physicality, and reliability Evans provided on the outside. The frustrating part is that Evans isn't simply producing respectable numbers elsewhere. He is outperforming nearly every receiver in the NFL by PFF's grading system, while Tampa Bay doesn't have a single player represented in its top 32.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: No Buccaneers WRs crack PFF's top 32, Mike Evans ranks eighth
