Buccaneers: Tom Brady helps new Offensive Player of the Year candidate

Tom Brady makes Chris Godwin an immediate Offensive Player of the Year candidate for the Buccaneers in 2021. 

NFL MVP may just be an award for quarterbacks, but Offensive Player of the Year is legitimately for everyone. While the MVP past winners list is almost completely filled with quarterbacks in recent years, there has been plenty of variation with wide receivers and running backs mixed in for the OPOY award.

While the Buccaneers would love to have their first MVP award in 2021, the odds are much better that they will instead have their first Offensive Player of the Year.

Tom Brady may look like a decent candidate for both of these awards, but in reality, Chris Godwin may have the best chance of any Buccaneers player to win this award if he stays healthy.

Godwin makes the most sense for this award because he already played at this level before, and any player catching passes from Tom Brady will live in the spotlight. In 2019, Godwin was the best receiver in the NFL, and was even rated better than Michael Thomas by most metrics, despite Thomas’ historic season.

From a talent standpoint, Godwin brings the most to the Bucs for their receiver room, and his ability to flourish in a Tom Brady-led offense is second to none in the league. Everyone knows how much Brady loves his slot receivers, and Godwin is still the most talented at the position across the NFL.

Whether he lines up on the inside or at the X or Z, Godwin’s abilities to make circus catches in coverage and to make plays with the ball in his hands make him one of the most explosive players on the team. Even a drag or a screen are dangerous when Brady and Godwin are on the field.

Chris Godwin is actually so good as a ball carrier and as a blocker that a more creative coaching staff could get him touches out of the backfield. You wouldn’t want a star receiver toting any carries up the middle, but there wouldn’t be a better player to use in running-back focused pass plays in the league.

Godwin does have to stay healthy if he hopes to make it into any end-of-season awards, and hopefully, last season’s injuries are the anomaly.

Finally, the preseason shows Chris Godwin is on the verge of a massive season. Three catches for 84 yards and a touchdown are extremely impressive in two drives, even against the Texans’ defense. If that last game was any indication, and we hope it was, Tom Brady, Chris Godwin, and the Buccaneers could be on the verge of a monster season in 2021.

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