Tampa Bay Buccaneers Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Buccaneers S Antoine Winfield Jr. (ankle) and S Mike Edwards (hamstring) are doubtful for Monday night's game against the Saints. That means Tampa Bay will almost certainly miss its top 2 safeties for the game. Keanu Neal and undrafted rookie Nolan Turner are the only other healthy safeties on the active roster. The Bucs could still activate veteran DB Logan Ryan (foot) from IR ahead of the game. Neal has moved up our Week 13 IDP rankings.

Bucs WR Russell Gage (hamstring) is listed as questionable for Monday night's game vs. the Saints. He was a full-go in Saturday's practice, so he seemingly has a good chance to return for this one. Gage has been out since Week 7 and shouldn't be in your fantasy plans. But his return adds downside to WR Julio Jones' fantasy profile.

Bucs TE Cameron Brate (illness) is listed as questionable for Monday night's game vs. the Saints. He got in a full practice on Friday, though, so he should be able to play. Brate, of course, is a weak fantasy option. But his presence also keeps TE Cade Otton out of consideration.

Bucs RB Leonard Fournette (hip) is listed as questionable for Monday night's game vs. the Saints. He put in a full week of practice, so it'd be surprising if he didn't play. But the late kickoff adds a little risk to using him in fantasy lineups. We'll see if we get an update on Fournette on Sunday morning.

Bucs RB Leonard Fournette (hip) put in another full practice on Friday. He remains on track to return for Monday night's game vs. the Saints.

Bucs RB Leonard Fournette (hip) was a full participant in Thursday's practice. That should put him in line to return for Monday night's game vs. the Saints. The question now becomes how snaps and touches will be divvied between Fournette and rookie Rachaad White. In Fournette's last game, White got the start, but Fournette tallied 14 carries and 1 target to White’s 11 carries and 0 targets before exiting with that hip injury.

Bucs WR Russell Gage (hamstring) was limited in Thursday's practice. We'll see if he can make it back for Monday night's game vs. the Saints, which would be his first action since Week 7. Gage won't be a bankable fantasy play if he does suit up against New Orleans.

Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin caught 12 balls for 110 yards and a TD in Sunday's OT loss at Cleveland. Godwin's 13 targets led the team by 4, with RB Rachaad White the only other Buc to catch more than 3 balls. WR Mike Evans tied White for 2nd on the team with 9 targets but caught only 2 of them (for 31 yards). FB Ko Kieft snagged QB Tom Brady's other TD throw on his lone target.

The Buccaneers leaned back toward the pass in Sunday's OT loss at Cleveland, dropping back on 66.7% of offensive snaps. QB Tom Brady completed a decent 67.4% of his throws but tallied just 246 yards (5.7 yards per attempt). He did connect with WR Chris Godwin and FB Ko Kieft for TDs, but Godwin and RB Rachaad White were the only Bucs to catch more than 3 passes. WR Mike Evans struggled, catching just 2 of his 9 targets. Tampa gets a rematch with the Saints next. Brady threw for just 188 yards against them back in Week 2, as his team totaled a season-low 260 yards.

Buccaneers RB Rachaad White caught all 9 of his targets for 45 yards in Sunday's OT loss at Cleveland. He added 64 rushing yards on 14 carries, controlling the backfield work with Leonard Fournette (hip) out. Ke'Shawn Vaughn claimed the only other 4 RB carries, and no other Bucs RB drew a target. The team managed just 2 offensive TDs, on passes to Chris Godwin and Ko Kieft. We'll see about Fournette's status for Week 13.

The Buccaneers have downgraded RB Leonard Fournette (hip) to out for Sunday's game against the Browns. He had already been deemed doubtful, so we moved Rachaad White up the Week 12 fantasy football rankings Friday in anticipation of Fournette not playing. Tampa Bay has also activated RB Giovani Bernard. We'll see what kind of role he can carve out, but we're not worried about Bernard's impact on White's numbers.

Bucs WR Russell Gage (hamstring) is out for Sunday’s game vs. the Browns. He remained sidelined all week and has no timetable for return. Julio Jones will continue to operate as Tampa’s #3 WR behind Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.

Bucs RB Leonard Fournette (hip) is listed as doubtful for Sunday's game vs. the Browns. He got in 3 limited practices this week but evidently isn't fit to play. Assuming Fournette sits, rookie Rachaad White will step in as Tampa's clear lead back against a struggling Cleveland run defense. White will be backed up by RB Ke'Shawn Vaughn and potentially RB Gio Bernard, who was designated to return from IR earlier this week.

Buccaneers RB Rachaad White got his 1st career start and wound up with season-high playing time in the last game. And the 2nd part wasn't just about Leonard Fournette leaving early with a hip issue. “I think it was excellent to see him go out there and play an extended amount of snaps,” OC Byron Leftwich said Thursday, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “I don’t know if he was ready for that many earlier. We saw the gifts that he had early but … we’re here with him every day, so we knew we had to get him to the point he could handle that type of load. He’s there now." White's playing time and touch count (22 carries vs. Seattle) probably won't be quite so high with Fournette back -- he has put in limited practices this week -- but expect enough of a role to put White in flex contention for many fantasy football teams.

Bucs RB Leonard Fournette (hip) remained limited in Thursday's practice. We'll see what he does on Friday and how he's listed on the final injury report for this weekend's game vs. the Browns.

Bucs RB Leonard Fournette (hip) got in a limited practice on Wednesday. HC Todd Bowles said that Fournette's hip is still sore, but getting on the field this early in the week gives him a good chance to play vs. the Browns this weekend. We'll continue to track Fournette's status over the next few days.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles said Wednesday that RB Leonard Fournette's hip is still "pretty sore." Bowles added that they'll see how Fournette progresses the rest of the week but wouldn't say whether he'll be able to play vs. the Browns on Sunday. We'll continue to keep a close eye on the situation. RB Rachaad White would obviously get a big boost if Fournette sits.

The Buccaneers have designated RB Giovani Bernard to return from IR. Bernard has been out since suffering a Week 2 ankle injury. There's now a 3-week window to return him to the active roster -- or rule him out for the season. It might not matter for fantasy purposes. Bernard played 0 offensive snaps through the season's 1st 2 weeks.

Bucs RB Leonard Fournette has been diagnosed with a hip pointer but is "likely" to be available after the Week 11 bye, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. We'll keep an eye on Fournette's status when Tampa gets back to work next week. Even before that injury, though, Fournette was splitting work with rookie RB Rachaad White. Expect both of those guys to land in lower-end RB2 territory in the Week 12 Rankings.

Buccaneers QB Tom Brady was efficient in Sunday morning's win over the Seahawks in Munich, Germany, but passed a lot less than usual. He completed 22 throws among 29 attempts, his fewest since the season-opening win at Dallas. Brady threw for 258 yards (8.9 per attempt), 2 TDs and 1 INT. He and the Bucs now get a Week 11 bye.