While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost franchise icon Mike Evans to the San Francisco 49ers this offseason in a flip between playoff contenders, most Bucs fans are higher on the wide receivers around Baker Mayfield in 2026 than they were last season.
Chris Godwin Jr. and Emeka Egbuka are the two wideouts who are getting the most attention, and there are a lot of people curious to see what speed and size demon Ted Hurst does as a rookie. Even Tez Johnson is getting whispers of praise. But just as much as Egbuka, young wideout Jalen McMillan is viewed around the Tampa Bay area as someone who can make that next step up to being one of the best wide receivers in the entire NFL.
And now, it looks like major analysts in the media are getting on board with exactly what Buccaneers fans have been saying about McMillan ever since watching him dazzle and outplay even the other Bucs wideouts upon his injury return in 2025.
Jalen McMillan is ready to break out for Buccaneers in 2026
ESPN's Benjamin Solak picked Jalen McMillan as his most likely breakout candidate for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2026 NFL season.
Solak wrote of the Bucs expected No. 3 wide receiver, “If McMillan can stay on the field, he is the best candidate for outside receiver snaps. And he has the large radius and spectacular catch ability that the Bucs need following the departure of Mike Evans. Chris Godwin Jr. won't fall out of the lineup entirely -- he's too reliable -- but McMillan brings enough juice as a run blocker to eat into those snaps, too.”
Buccaneers fans will be nodding along excitedly to everything Solak just said about the underrated McMillan here, all the way down to his run blocking. Because while McMillan is a gifted and explosive receiver just like Chris Godwin Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, too, he is also as tough as they come, with many of his teammates and coaches raving about his grit, which extends to doing the dirty work for Bucky Irving in the ground game.
Baker Mayfield should not have any reservations at all about potentially heading into a contract year - and a make or break year for his overall reputation, in some ways - with this group of wide receivers. McMillan is under the radar compared to Egbuka, but he might honestly be just as good as the Ohio State University product.
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