Even though the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost legendary wide receiver Mike Evans to the San Francisco 49ers this spring, there are more reasons to believe the Bucs passing attack will be better next season than it was last season. Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan are ready to take huge steps forwards, as is sleeper wide receiver Tez Johnson. Bucky Irving and Chris Godwin Jr. will be healthier. Cade Otton and the others will be much improved under Zac Robinson.
Baker Mayfield has an even bigger chip on his shoulder. Kenny Gainwell is a big time weapon out of the backfield. And rookie third round wide receiver Ted Hurst has the raw tools to become the next NFL Draft sleeper at receiver.
Hurst has already begun to turn heads at rookie minicamp, looking every bit the athletic speed demon and monster in the air that he was hyped to be coming out of Georgia State, with the small school status potentially being the only reason why he wasn't picked in the first round of the draft to begin with.
The crazy thing is, Hurst isn't the only rookie wide receiver from the state of Georgia who is getting early hype in the Buccaneers offseason, as Georgia Tech undrafted free agent gem Eric Rivers Jr. is also starting to get some real love from the media.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are loaded at WR
Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport recently named every NFL team's most exciting undrafted free agent, and whlie the Bucs coaching staff seems to be smitten with Kansas grad and quarterback Jalon Daniels, it looks like the gurus are more interested in one of the players he could end up tossing a few passes to.
Davenport chose Eric Rivers and wrote of the young receiver, “Those wheels and athleticism got Rivers a chance to show that big impacts can come in small packages. And as the old saying goes, you can't teach speed.”
If there is any team that is a great landing spot for a young, speedy skill position player, then it is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Baker Mayfield loves guys who can get down the field quickly or make shifty plays from dump off passes, and the Bucs want a high flying passing attack, with Zac Robinson joining the gang so they can embrace it.
There are a lot of mouths to feed in this offense, even with Mike Evans gone, so just making the roster is going to be tough. But with Rivers's raw speed, explosiveness, and ability to get open, Ted Hurst may not be the only new gem to watch this season.
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