Chris Godwin Expects to Return to Buccaneers, Must-Bench in Fantasy Football Week 4

Chris Godwin is expected to make his season debut in Week 4 against the Philadelphia Eagles. How will he adjust post-ankle injury, and is he fantasy startable?

Oct 21, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin (14) celebrates a first down against the Baltimore Ravens in the second quarter at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Chris Godwin is expected to make his 2025 season debut this Sunday, and it could not come at a more perfect time. With a hamstring injury, Mike Evans has been listed out multiple weeks and now this Buccaneers team really needs to fill that gap against the Eagles. Luckily for them, they are planning on getting Godwin back to renew their attack. Baker Mayfield will now entrust Egbuka, Godwin, and Sterling Shepard to attack this Eagles secondary.

Fantasy Football Impact

The return of Godwin is massive. He will come into this lineup with a ramp-up in snap and workload. As far as you should be concerned, Godwin is not yet start-able in fantasy football, but he will be. Egbuka is the WR1 until Evans is back, but Godwin will soon trail right behind him.

Eventually, you can anticipate Godwin to have a target share over 20%, if not closer to 25%. However, he will have the slow ramp-up, so he may not be a full-load in Week 4. This gives Sterling Shepard some short-term value.

Bucs WR Chris Godwin is expected to make his season debut on Sunday.

Mike Evans is going to be out, Emeka Egbuka was limited to 57% of snaps in Week 3.

How much is it reasonable to expect to get out of Godwin right out of the gates? pic.twitter.com/oXTZcGPwI0

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 25, 2025

In 2024, Godwin only played seven games but his target share was just north of 25%. With Evans swapped for Egbuka in the short-term, this should not change at all. You cannot ever bench a receiver that owns a 25%+ target share.

As for when Evans returns, this target share will even out. One has to remember that Jalen McMillan is also gone from this lineup. Though he is replaced by Sterling Shepard, this receiving core will be a three-headed monster. Well over 60% of team targets last season went to receivers, and I would anticipate that number to trend over 70% with Evans back. This makes for an average of 23-25%, or so, per core receiver. I can honestly see this split being relatively even between Evans-Egbuka-Godwin. They will be the only receiver room with three must-start receivers.

Start/Sit: Chris Godwin vs Eagles

Our Fantasy Sports On SI Rankings have Chris Godwin as just WR99 in Week 4. As he needs a ramp-up period, we may want to wait and see before we start him. He will have key work in Week 4, just not that full load over 20% of a target share. October will be the breakout month.

Chris Godwin To Return in Week 4

In Week 7 of 2024, Godwin had dislocated his ankle in a bad way, which has sidlined him for the last 11 months. He finally has gotten back healthy and plans to play in Week 4. The previous goal was for Godwin to return in Week 5, but he appears to be doing well enough to get the all-clear this week. Godwin is a beloved teammate in Tampa Bay, and so fans and teammates will take hype to his comeback.

To make matters even better, Godwin is returning in a home game versus the Eagles. The matchup already has massive hype between two NFC contenders, and now the crowd will get even louder to welcome back their veteran receiver. Expect Raymond James Stadium to be very loud early in the game. This will further benefit early home field advantage in this game. The Eagles are currently favored by 3.5 Points.