Tampa Bay Buccaneers DVOA, Stats, & NFL Rankings

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Sterling Shepard (foot, hamstring) has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers. Shepard exited last week's contest due to a hamstring injury. In addition, he has been dealing with a lingering foot issue. The Buccaneers need to win to keep their playoff hopes alive, so look for Baker Mayfield to lean on his wide receivers Mike Evans, Jalen McMillan, Ryan Miller, and Trey Palmer in the passing game. McMillan should be the biggest beneficiary of Shepard missing the game. The Buccaneers are 8.5-point favorites at home versus the Carolina Panthers, and game flow may play in favor of running backs Bucky Irving and Rachaad White.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton (knee) has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers. Otton will miss his second game in a row due to a left knee injury he suffered in Week 15. In his absence, the Buccaneers will call on Payne Durham to step up in Week 17. In Week 16, during Otton's absence, Durham had five catches for 29 yards and played 93% of the snaps. The Buccaneers need to win to keep their playoff hopes alive, so look for Baker Mayfield to lean on his wide receivers Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan in the passing game. The Buccaneers are 8.5-point favorites at home versus the Panthers, and game flow may play in favor of running backs Bucky Irving and Rachaad White. Durham ranks as TE34 in the latest RotoBaller tight end rankings for Week 17.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Sterling Shepard (foot, hamstring) was listed as a non-participant in practice for the second straight day on Thursday. Shepard is now in danger of sitting out the Week 17 contest against the division-rival Carolina Panthers this Sunday. He will likely need to return to the practice field on Friday to avoid being ruled out entirely. Tight end Cade Otton (knee) also hasn't practiced this week and is on track to miss a second straight game. Shepard injured his hamstring in the Week 16 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. The 31-year-old missing this weekend's game would mean that Ryan Miller and Trey Palmer would compete for WR3 duties behind Mike Evans and rookie Jalen McMillan. When healthy, Shepard has been a hard sell as a WR4/5, even in deep fantasy leagues. He's scored just once on the year and has two catches for 36 yards in the last two games.

According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton (knee) remained sidelined during Thursday's practice. Otton has now missed the first two practices of the week and only has one more opportunity to log a session before Sunday's game. Fantasy managers should watch his status closely on Friday afternoon, as the tight end will likely carry an injury designation into the weekend. Otton could not suit up last weekend due to this injury and is in danger of missing his second-straight contest. Over his previous four games, Otton has seen just 4.3 targets and averaged an underwhelming 6.1 PPR points per game. Even if Otton can turn the corner in time to face the Panthers on Sunday, he should not be started in standard formats.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Ryan Miller caught two passes for 17 yards and one touchdown during Sunday's Week 16 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. The Furman product has not been a dependable fantasy option this season, but he has shown promise at times. In Week 8, he converted five targets into three receptions. The next week, he caught his first career touchdown. One week later, he played 85 percent of the snaps. As the Buccaneers scrambled to replace Chris Godwin (ankle), Miller was one of the candidates to get more involved, but he's still a few rungs below players like Jalen McMillan, Sterling Shepard, and Trey Palmer in the pecking order.