Buccaneers Fantasy Football Outlook with Three Starters Out: Rachaad White, Cade Otton, Receivers Outside Emeka Egbuka and More

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have gotten off to a great start, but have been dealing with several different injuries.

Week 6 might be their toughest challenge yet as they ruled out Bucky Irving, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Let's go over the team's other fantasy options and determine the best starting options.

Use the FantasySP fantasy football injury news page to track injuries all season.

Bucs' Backfield

With Irving out, Rachaad White will lead the team's backfield for a second straight week. Sean Tucker should gobble up the backup work.

Without Irving around in week 5, White dominated the backfield, getting 18 of 24 touches. He played 49 offensive snaps on the day. White rushed for 41 yards and two touchdowns, while catching all four of his targets for 30 yards.

The two touchdowns propped up an otherwise down fantasy outing for the team's lead back, but his workload and usage were both great. 

He'll have a tougher test against the 49ers in week 6, but on volume alone again, I see White delivering a good fantasy showing. I had him ranked 14th for week 6 among my top-30 PPR running backs. He is projected for 17 PPR fantasy points, which is ranked ninth overall.

In other words, I'd be starting him in all fantasy leagues this week, even if you are stacked at running back. I see White as a top-20 option, and he has top-10 upside. Get him in those lineups.

Tucker could be a sneaky good fantasy option in a more favorable matchup, but in his secondary role, I don't see him doing enough to warrant any fantasy starts. Try to avoid him in deeper leagues.

After all, he only rushed for three yards on three carries and caught all three of his targets, but went backward four yards last week. There has to be a better deep-league option out there.

Bucs' Pass Catchers

Evans has been out several weeks already with an injury, and he wasn't expected back, so his absence was known. Godwin just came back a couple weeks ago, so to see him inactive again is a bummer for him and his fantasy owners.

Godwin should probably be dropped in all standard leagues at this point, as I don't see him as a locked-in standard league asset the remainder of the way. I'd keep rostering him in deeper leagues though.

With those two wideouts out of the picture, you can expect a heavy dose of rookie Emeka Egbuka in week 6. He's been a fantasy star this season, and could be in line for his biggest showing yet given who else is available.

He and the wideouts have a tougher matchup coming, but with how he's performed, and the lack of proven pass catchers around him, I don't know how Egbuka doesn't go off this week.

He's projected for 17 PPR fantasy points, which is tied for the fourth-highest mark this week. I had him at No. 5 in my top-30 wide receiver PPR rankings, and that was before knowing Godwin was also out.

Egbuka should absolutely star on Sunday, so don't get too hung up on the tougher matchup and make sure he's in your lineups. 

After him, there's really no clear No. 2 pass catcher.

After he delivered in week 5, I'd nominate tight end Cade Otton for that honor. He had 81 yards on four receptions and five targets. It was his first big game of the season, but he's on the field almost every snap, so you could do a lot worse than him.

I had him as my No. 25 fantasy PPR tight end for week 6, and would bump him a few spots up after the news that Godwin is out. He is projected for about seven PPR points and has an average matchup coming. 

So if you are looking for tight end help, Otton is a widely-available and trending up option. I'd at least feel confident enough in him to start him in deeper leagues, and in a pinch, even start him in standard leagues.

Wideout Sterling Shepard played the next-most snaps after Otton, Egbuka and Godwin a week ago. Tez Johnson was also a bit involved.

Shepard had four catches for 24 yards and a touchdown over five targets. Johnson went for 59 yards on four catches and targets.

With decent fantasy outings from each guy, starting either in deeper leagues isn't the craziest idea. The tougher matchup holds them back from standard league consideration though.

Tight end Payne Durham and receivers Ryan Miller and Kameron Johnson all could be in line for expanded roles, but I don't want to start any of them, regardless of how deep a league is. 

I think that between Egbuka, Otton, Shepard and Johnson that most of the targets and production go to those guys. If anyone else contributes, they can be considered in future weeks, but avoid them in week 6.

Baker Mayfield Fantasy Outlook

The injuries will also make life harder on Mayfield, who has been really good to start this fantasy season.

I had Mayfield at No. 14 before knowing that Godwin would be out. I'd still consider Mayfield in that range, but maybe be a bit more inclined to start a couple of the guys I ranked right after him. 

Mayfield is projected for 18 fantasy points, which is tied for the ninth-highest mark of the week, but he's in a logjam with five other guys at 18 points. That puts him in the standard league conversation, but maybe trending toward sitting him outside deeper leagues.

In a tougher matchup, I'd understand not wanting to play Mayfield either this week.

However, I would still be OK starting him in standard leagues. He's at 83% started right now, but that could drop before his game actually kicks off.

I tend to trust a player's results over the matchup, or any outside news, so it wouldn't surprise me to see Mayfield keep up his strong start to the season. It's just a bit less likely given the injuries around him.

But yeah, I'm more than happy to roll out Mayfield in all leagues for week 6.