The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are gearing up for yet another attempt at a Super Bowl. The front office put together one of the best offseasons in the NFL, retaining key players during free agency and adding premium talent throughout the draft. However, a good offseason often isn't enough to propel a team to the big game. The Bucs will need a couple of players on their roster to outperform expectations by a wide margin. Tampa Bay has several breakout candidates on the roster, but none seem more likely to make a huge impact than wide receiver Russell Gage.
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Buccaneers X-Factor To Emerge In 2022 NFL Season
Russell Gage
Gage, a free-agent signing, was quietly one of the best additions of the offseason. He spent the first four years of his career with the Atlanta Falcons, cracking the starting lineup in the final two. Throughout those two years, Gage managed to produce at a high level despite playing in an abysmal offense. In nine games started in 2021, the former LSU Tiger put up 770 yards and four touchdowns on 66 catches. Those numbers look great when considering the state of Atlanta's passing attack. Gage and tight end Kyle Pitts were the only two legitimate targets on the team, and opposing defenses knew that. The Falcons were also incapable of running the ball, making it even harder to move through the air. Despite all of those factors, Gage was an extremely productive pass-catcher.
Now, Gage will enter a much more player-friendly situation. The Buccaneers love to pass, and they do it well. In 2021, Tampa Bay had the most passing yards in the league, the most passing touchdowns, and one of the highest passer ratings. The presence of quarterback Tom Brady essentially ensures that the aerial attack will be one of the league's best. The Buccaneers also field a decent running game, a factor that will take some pressure off of Gage and the rest of the receivers. Gage will have plenty of opportunities in one of the best passing attacks in the NFL, and that should lead to a huge uptick in statistical production.
Russell Gage is set up for success 🏴☠️ pic.twitter.com/ZFCcghJ8pQ
— PFF Fantasy Football (@PFF_Fantasy) June 18, 2022
Some people will look at Gage and immediately feel concern for his target share in Tampa Bay. The wide receiving corps is loaded, with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin ahead of Gage on the depth chart. Even backups Tyler Johnson and Scotty Miller are bound to see the field for a small amount of playing time.
However, none of those factors will prevent Gage from getting the snaps and targets he needs to produce. Gage will be filling Antonio Brown's role, and Brown was given plenty of opportunity to succeed, at least in terms of snap counts. In the six full games Brown played before leaving the team, he played well over 50% of the snaps in four of them. In the other two, he barely failed to clear 50%. With the lion's share of snaps as the third receiver, Brown was able to produce 545 receiving yards and four touchdowns in seven games. While Gage likely isn't the same caliber of receiver as Brown, he should be able to have similar statistical success in his role as the third option in the Tampa Bay passing game.
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