Team news: Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Page 12

Rachaad White listed as Buccaneers RB2.

Related players: Leonard Fournette, Ke'shawn Vaughn

Fournette owners take note. White, a rookie, is listed as the team's RB2 ahead of Vaughn.

Giants WR Darius Slayton was not at practice. His absence was excused by the team, per source.

Related players: Kadarius Toney, Wan'Dale Robinson, Kenny Golladay, Sterling Shepard

The tweet went on to say, for the sake of connecting dots, Blake Martinez was excused from practice last week and was released a day later. It's unclear if Slayton's situation will have a similar outcome, the tweet added. The Giants have been rumored to be making changes at WR. The team seems to be stuck with Golladay and his contract and youngsters Toney and Robinson probably aren't going anywhere, which could mean Shepard or Slayton end up on the roster bubble at some point. The Giants WR situation is one to watch once the season starts and roles are sorted out.

Chris Godwin, on the In the Moment podcast with David Greene was asked if he would play Week 1. "I don't think any of us know that yet. There's stuff that circulates and half the time I'm like, 'I have no idea where people get this from."

Related players: Russell Gage, Julio Jones, Breshad Perriman, Scott Miller

Stroud tweeted a few posts on the Godwin interview. Godwin said it would come down to feel, but also added while he wants to be there the whole season, he knows it's most important to be there at the end of the season and playoffs. It sounds like Godwin wants to be smart about coming back and make sure it's the right time. If he doesn't go, Gage, Jones, Perriman and Miller should get snaps behind Mike Evans.

Though his development slowed as the summer moved along, second-round pick Wan'Dale Robinson is slated to start the season in the slot, apparently bumping Sterling Shepard down the pecking order.

Related Players: Kadarius Toney, Darius Slayton

Robinson's -0.2 average depth of target in the preseason portends a Rondale Moore-type rookie season, so let's hope the team was simply being vanilla with his usage to avoid tipping their hat. Regardless of who logs the most snaps from the slot this season, the Giants' receiving group leaves much to be desired.

Sam Darnold will be forced to miss the first four games, at a minimum. Though Baker Mayfield was likely brought in to operate as the QB1 from the get-go. This will save him from having someone breathing down his neck.

Related Players: P.J. Walker

Person would go on to report that GM Scott Fitterer said the plan is for the Panthers to keep only two quarterbacks on the active roster; Baker Mayfield and P.J. Walker. Walker is worth a roster spot in deep-roster Superflex leagues.

Daboll said Kadarius Toney is “improving.” He had a good practice yesterday. They’ve ramped him up the last few weeks. “Hopefully he’ll be ready” for Week 1.

Related players: Wan'Dale Robinson, Kenny Golladay, Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton

Toney can't seem to stay on the field so far through his young career. When he has been healthy, he's certainly flashed potential. As we point out in his bio, he's actually targeted pretty frequently whenever he was on the field. In fact, he was fifth in targets per route run among the 105 receivers with at least 38 targets and was 11th in yards per route run in that same sample. With Golladay, Shepard and Slayton having their own issues, Toney has a chance to emerge as the team's WR1, perhaps along with the rookie Robinson. The Giants WR situation is a fluid one at the moment.

A Florida native, Michel signed with the team in May of this year but was eventually considered a redundant asset in the Dolphins' running back room.

Related Players: Chase Edmonds, Raheem Mostert, Myles Gaskin

Michel was given nine rush attempts through three preseason games and managed 13 yards combined. All signs point toward this being a split backfield with Raheem Mostert being utilized as a change-of-pace back behind Chase Edmonds, who could end up as the fantasy steal of the summer, particularly for those of whom were drafting him when his ADP was at the end of the 9th Round.

WR Kadarius Toney hasn’t participated in any team periods. Hamstring seemed to be bothering him during individual drills.

Related players: Kenny Golladay, Wan'Dale Robinson, Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton, Collin Johnson, David Sills

It always seems to be something with Toney. The Giants are deep at WR but they all seem to have their issues. It could be the reason why the team is singing the praises of guys like Johnson and Sills, saying they could not only make the team but also play. Reports say Toney's hamstring isn't serious so the team is maybe just being cautious here.

Breer calls Rachaad White the best passing-game running back Tom Brady has had since he arrived in Tampa Bay.

Related Players: Leonard Fournette, Ke'Shawn Vaughn, Giovani Bernard

This comes on the back of Greg Auman of the Athletic, labeling Gio Bernard as a likely cut candidate ahead of the season's start. Two completely unrelated sources are projecting Rachaad White with a significant —mostly third-down— role, and where there is smoke, there is often fire. If White has a firm grasp of the role, there's not a very good chance Fournette duplicates his 84 target performance from 2021.

The Bucs are strongly considering a bare-bones, three-RB depth chart heading into the season; Leonard Fournette, rookie Rachaad White, and Ke'Shawn Vaughn.

While Bernard likely didn't offer any intrinsic fantasy value himself, this does open up the door for more playing time behind Fournette for the rookie and the former 2020 3rd-round pick. Rachaad White will likely be the biggest winner, rotating with Fournette, who finished 12th in backfield touch% last season. If Fournette were to suffer an injury, the team would assuredly make a move in free agency with such a thin depth chart.