RADIO
Apart from Deflategate, coming into this season, one of the biggest storylines had to do with how well Jameis Winston would handle the transition from the college game to the NFL. While he’s had his bumps and bruises along the way, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Week 11 matchup against Chip Kelly and the struggling Philadelphia Eagles would prove to be his most successful outing to date.
Seriously, it’s hard to argue against going 19-for-29 through the air for 246 yards and five touchdowns. And the sweetest part of it all, at least as far as head coach Lovie Smith is concerned? Zero interceptions. That’s right—not a single airborne turnover.
With all of Winston’s Week 11 success in mind, however, it would be foolhardy to fail to recognize the talent around Winston that helped him put together a solid performance at the expense of Eagles’ fans all over the country.
For starters, sophomore wideout Mike Evans showed Fantasy owners why he’s one of the league’s top young receivers this past week, putting together his third straight double-digit-points performance on Sunday. Sure, Evans started off the season going five straight weeks with a combined 17 fantasy points, but it appears that he’s finally starting to gel with Winston. Against the Eagles, Evans caught four passes for 63 yards and a touchdown.
In addition to Evans, Vinent Jackson has further solidified himself as a viable offensive weapon for Coach Smith’s offense, bringing in four receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown against the Eagles. Truthfully, ever since arriving in Tampa Bay in 2012, Jackson has been a force to be reckoned with. No joke—in fact, Jackson played in all 16 games his first three seasons of the year and racked up more than 1,000 yards in each one.
That said, 2015 hasn’t been the kindest of years to the dynamic receiver. Before missing three straight games with a nagging knee injury, Jackson was nothing short of inconsistent and absent out on the field. Yet, as is often the case in the NFL, one man’s loss is another man’s gain.
Currently, with Austin Sefarian-Jenkins nursing a tender shoulder, both Jackson and Evans are bound to see more targets from Winston. Though Evans is owned in nearly all fantasy leagues, only 54.1 percent of formats lay claim to having successfully placed Jackson on a team. Needless to say, for fantasy owners in need of an additional receiver, Jackson could be a bit of a pleasant surprise in the coming weeks.
Listen, nobody is claiming that Jameis Winston and the Buccaneers are on the verge of a Super Bowl birth, but later on in the season when injuries abound, it’s never a bad idea to look to lower-end teams for up-and-coming talent for a few hidden points.
