Buccaneers, Eagles Wild Card Playoff Fantasy Football Takeaways: Baker Mayfield, Cade Otton, Chris Godwin, Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith and More

The Wild Card Round wrapped up Monday with a pair of games. Let’s take a look at some of the top performers from each game, just like we did for the first four playoff games.

We already looked at the Houston Texans’ win over the Cleveland Browns, the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Miami Dolphins, the Green Bay Packers’ win over the Dallas Cowboys, the Detroit Lions’ win over the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills’ win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now it’s time to discuss the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Buccaneers’ Offense Rolls

Tampa Bay racked up 426 yards of offense on Monday night. The Bucs rushed for 119 yards and threw for 337 more. It was simply a dominant offensive performance, and the score would have been even more lopsided if the team didn’t have to settle for three field goals.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield completed 22 of his 36 passes on the night, going for 337 yards and three touchdowns. He didn’t throw an interception or lose a fumble. Mayfield also rushed for 16 yards on a pair of attempts.

Mayfield was questionable to play in the game, but looked great leading the Bucs’ offense up and down the field. His completion percentage wasn’t great, but several drops from his teammates didn’t do him any favors.

Over his past six games, Mayfield has 13 touchdown passes to just two interceptions. He’s topped 300 yards in three of the games. He’s got another favorable matchup ahead against the Detroit Lions - we’ll cover that matchup later this week, so check back for that.

Running back Rachaad White had a solid night, going for 75 combined yards on 19 touches. His lack of a touchdown and one reception kept him from being a better fantasy asset this week.

White lost several touches to Chase Edmonds, but I think that had more to do with the final score than performance on the field. In a closer game, I’d expect White to get a larger percentage of the RB touches, which will make him a solid starting option in the NFC Divisional Round.

Tight end Cade Otton was Mayfield’s top target. Otton caught eight of his 11 targets for 89 yards. A couple drops kept him from going over 100 yards and possibly scoring a time or two.

Otton has been inconsistent from a fantasy perspective, so even after a big game like this, a lot of fantasy owners are going to be skeptical of starting him next week. Check back for that start/sit decision.

Trey Palmer made his lone catch matter, going for a 56-yard touchdown. David Moore caught 2-of-3 targets for 66 yards and a score. 

Moore had just one game over 20 yards this season coming into the game, so his final statline was a big shock. Palmer has been more involved offensively, but simply has been inconsistent - it was just his third time over 50 receiving yards, and the fourth time he’s scored this season. So much like Otton, their solid fantasy days won’t necessarily result in immediately playing them in the next round.

Mike Evans and Chris Godwin typically lead the Bucs’ pass catchers, but they were pretty unspectacular. Godwin finished with 45 yards on four catches and five targets, but scored a touchdown to bail out fantasy owners that played him. Evans had 48 yards on three grabs and seven targets - he dropped what probably would have been a touchdown in the first half.

Evans is the guy fantasy owners have confidently started all season, while Godwin has also gotten plenty of starting love. Their performances this week won’t exactly inspire fantasy owners to trust them, but they are still the guys that are most likely to lead the team’s passing game.

I also want to mention the Bucs’ defense, which allowed just one touchdown and 276 total yards. They also stopped the Eagles’ QB sneak, which is a rare feat.

The Eagles’ offense was a mess in the latter portion of the season, so don’t read too much into the defensive performance, but they are a defense to consider playing this upcoming round.

Eagles’ Epic Collapse Finally Ends

It’s wild to think the Eagles were once 10-1 this season. Philly won one game since that point, and it was against the lowly New York Giants. Expect several offseason changes to the team and potentially coaching staff.

Jalen Hurts was banged up coming into the game, but it didn’t really affect him as a passer. He was 25-of-35 for 250 yards and one touchdown. He avoided interceptions and fumbles, but only gained 5 yards on one rushing attempt.

A huge part of Hurts’ game is his rushing ability, so to only see one attempt is wild to me. It’s kind of fitting that in their final game of the season that the QB sneak play was unsuccessful. 

Hurts is still going to be one of the first few quarterbacks selected in fantasy drafts, but he likely isn’t going to be a popular pick to be the first QB taken any longer. A new offensive approach, or maybe some now weapons around him might do Hurts good.

With A.J. Brown out with an injury, DeVonta Smith starred in the passing game. Smith caught 8-of-12 targets for 148 yards. 

Smith is one of the game’s best No. 2 options, and showed he could easily be a No. 1 if needed. I wonder if we might get to see that, as Brown has shown plenty of frustration this season and recently deleted all his social media posts involving the Eagles. 

It might mean nothing, but it could also mean Brown requests a trade, which would leave Smith as the No. 1 option - which would obviously do wonders for this fantasy outlook. It’s going to be a very important offseason for Philly.

No other Eagles’ pass catcher went over 25 receiving yards. Tight end Dallas Goedert caught a touchdown, but finished with just 21 yards on four grabs and six targets.

Goedert’s season was hampered by an injury. He had some nice games, but really underperformed given his skill level. He should be a bigger offensive priority moving forward, but his lackluster fantasy season might make him a sleeper pick in fantasy drafts this fall.

Running back D'Andre Swift had a solid 66 total yards on 14 touches. He averaged a modest 3.4 yards on his rushing attempts, but only got 10 attempts.

Swift had a pretty efficient season in terms of his rushing and receiving averages, but was 16th in the league in touches among running backs. He’s a free agent his offseason, so I’m intrigued to see where he lands. If he stays in Philly, the offense needs to utilize him more.

Kenneth Gainwell was second in the Philly backfield with 114 touches, but barely went over 500 total yards. He’s signed for another season, but is likely to remain the No. 2 to either Swift or another RB brought in via the draft or through trade.

Philly’s defense could also use some more talent. Their run game was pretty strong most of the season, but the defense was torched by opposing passing games. I’d be pretty surprised if there aren’t some changes to the secondary before the start of next season.

There’s several aging veterans on defense (Brandon Graham, Darius Slay, Fletcher Cox, to name a few), and the team will need to start figuring out replacement plans. A youth movement might help kickstart the whole team.