Chris Godwin

Week 2 vs. Atlanta Falcons

Chris Godwin was highly productive in Week 1, seeing a team-high 14 targets which he converted into a 9-105-1 stat line. He also played nearly the entire game, only missing a single snap on offense. It's hard to see him consistently see 14 targets a game in this offense, but this proves in certain matchups that Godwin is set to have a few explosive games throughout the year. He should be in for another strong outing in Week 2 in a favorable matchup against the Falcons. We like Godwin as a low-end WR1 play this week.

Fantasy Upside
Chris Godwin averaged seven targets per game during the regular season and eight targets per game in the postseason, a healthy amount considering he’s competing with Mike Evans and Antonio Brown. If he plays the full season, that’d equate to around 120 targets in 2021. He missed some games due to injury last year but was productive in the 12 games he was active, averaging 70 yards per game with seven total scores. He’ll return as the No. 2 receiver in a pass-happy offense led by Tom Brady.

Fantasy Downside
While Godwin had a solid season last year, his production took a hit from the year prior. Godwin averaged 25 yards less per game and set a career-low with 12.9 yards per catch. A lot of that was due to the presence of Antonio Brown, who joined midseason (Godwin averaged 11.8 PPG (half-PPR) with Brown in the lineup compared to 13.2 PPG without, including playoffs). Brown returns in 2021, but his impact will last a full season now. The Bucs also added Giovani Bernard, and get back O.J. Howard who will both eat into Godwin’s production as well.

2021 Bottom Line
Godwin is an exceptional talent, and we saw that with his productive 2019 season. But fantasy owners shouldn’t expect 2019 production from Godwin moving forward. Instead, fantasy owners should expect 2020 production from Godwin in 2021, assuming he stays healthy. This means around 70-80 yards per game instead of 90-100 yards, and likely fewer touchdowns. We have Godwin ranked in the WR20 to WR25 range.

Week 16 at Detroit Lions

Chris Godwin finished 4-36-1 on five targets last week. He had the fewest amount of targets between the four main receiving threats, but still remained productive. Although it's not great to see Godwin finish with just 36 yards in a game where Tom Brady threw for 390. However, with so many receiving threats in this offense, someone is bound to have a not-so-great game every now and then. Godwin is in a good position to succeed this week in a favorable matchup against the Lions (No. 23 aFPA). We like Godwin as a strong WR2 play in Week 16.