According to a report by Rick Stroud, Chris Godwin suffered a fractured left index injury while making that impressive touchdown catch in Las Vegas Sunday and will be out for the Bucs’ matchup against the Giants this upcoming Monday.
He could return by Week 9 for the Bucs’ matchup against the Saints, but his status for that game is very much up in the air.
The receiver has had some rotten luck with injuries this season, only playing in four of the seven games this season. However, it’s worth noting that in those four games, he racked up 25 catches for 279 yards and a pair of TDs. He has been quite productive and seems to have a good connection with TB12, and the loss will certainly be felt (maybe not against the Giants, but if he’s out against New Orleans it will be).
If Godwin is out for Week 9, perhaps we see a big game from Antonio Brown, who will be eligible to return from his eight-game suspension. For Week 8’s matchup against the Giants, the Bucs can rely on their plethora of other options for Brady. Mike Evans had a quiet game Sunday, with just two catches for 37 yards. Look for him to get a lot of action against a very suspect Giants secondary.
Even without Godwin, expect the Bucs to take care of business against a struggling Giants team. Quarterback Daniel Jones will probably commit a couple turnovers, and TB12 will pick apart that defense. The Bucs will take home a victory 31-13 and improve to 6-2 (man that feels good to write).
As for some trade rumors around the league, there have been conflicting reports about second-year defensive lineman Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets. Manish Mehta is on one side, reporting that the Jets are actively shopping Williams, while other reports say that the Jets are simply “listening” to offers, and are not actively shopping the former Alabama man.
The Jets are winless to start the year and are in a perpetual rebuild, and while Williams’ solid play is being wasted, the young defensive lineman should not be considered expendable. Williams was drafted in the first round of last year’s draft and would at most net a second-round pick from a team this year. I’m not a general manager but the value there doesn’t quite seem to work out.
Despite all of this, the Bucs could be a potential landing spot for the young lineman. They are going to likely lose Ndamukong Suh next year and would be wise to look for his replacement. Williams is a solid talent on the interior, and the Bucs probably won’t find a guy as talented in the second or third round of next year’s draft. A combination of a second-round pick and maybe a future late-round pick would probably be enough to get the young lineman in a Bucs uniform, and the move would certainly fill one of their needs for the draft next year. Then the Bucs could use their first-round pick to either get another pass rusher (Shaq Barrett is fantastic and deserves a big pay day, I’m just not sure the Bucs will be able to give it to him), another safety to pair with Antoine Winfield (although this isn’t a glaring need; the Bucs could use free agency or a third-round pick on this position), or maybe even try to find an upgrade for their offensive line.
This is the type of sexy move that the Bucs might not make, though. They did just get a defensive lineman from the Jets in Steve McLendon (although his contract expires this year), and Vita Vea will be coming back next year. My argument for that is that you can never have enough depth, especially on the front-seven.
But knowing the Jets they’ll probably keep him and trade him for a sixth-round pick in a couple years after another 0-7 start. Some things never change.
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This article appears in Oct 22-29, 2020.