There are plenty of points to be had in the Buccaneers’ matchup with the Panthers, both in terms of fantasy points and actual points. Carolina scored 27 on the Chiefs’ defense last week, while Tampa Bay is coming off a 30-7 dismantling of the New York Giants. Since both of these teams are more offensive, it’s a great game to target for DFS players since it will likely be a high-scoring affair.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers Start Em’
Panthers WR Adam Thielen (Draft Kings Price 4.8K, FanDuel Price 5.8K)
The Panthers were very excited to get Theilen back from injury. He caught three of his four targets in the game against Kansas City for 57 yards. Although Xavier Legette is emerging as the new number-one receiving target, look for Thielen to get more and more targets as the weeks go by.
Buccaneers RB Bucky Irving (Draft Kings Price 5.8K, FanDuel Price 7.2K)
Irving is trending in exactly the same way a booming stock would. Each week he gets more carries and more yardage. Just look at his last three games: 24 yards against Kansas City, followed by 73 yards against San Fransisco, and finally 88 yards against New York. If this trend continues, Bucky Irving might be looking at his first 100-yard game against Carolina.
Buccaneers WR Mike Evans (Draft Kings Price 6.7K, FanDuel Price 8.3K)
Picking which Buccaneers receiver is going to have a good day can be extremely tough. Chris Godwin performed very well while Evans was injured, but in his return, Evans led the team in receiving with 58 yards. Now that he’s shaken off the cobwebs, Baker Mayfield may want to feed him some more targets. Since it’s looking like a high-scoring matchup, Mayfield may need to dial up the long ball with Evans.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers Sit Em’
Panthers WR Xavier Legette (Draft Kings Price 5.1K, FanDuel Price 5.8K)
There are two reasons why it might be a good idea to pass on Legette this week. The first is that Bryce Young is announced as the starter, who might not throw the ball as well as Andy Dalton might. The second is that Young might be giving Theilen more targets now that he is healthy. Otherwise, Legette is emerging as quite a threat, so it’s a good idea to keep his name in mind for future matchups.
Buccaneers TE Cade Otton (Draft Kings Price 4.5K, FanDuel Price 6.2K)
Otton hasn’t been trending well for the month of November. He only got 35 and 30 in the past two games respectively. Now, in all fairness that isn’t completely Otton’s fault; his target share was severely cut in those games. The issue is that now that Evans is back, Otton’s target number might stay low. Everyone this season has been complaining about the lack of production at the tight end position, but at the end of the day, other tight ends in the league will get more guaranteed work.
Buccaneers WR Sterling Shepard (Draft Kings Price 4K, FanDuel Price 5.5K)
Shepard is put in an interesting position here because he is just one more weapon that opposing defenses have to worry about. In terms of fantasy, though, Shepard now gets to compete for targets with Evans, Godwin, Johnson, Otton…even Irving is catching passes now. Shepard has a decent upside, but it’s not guaranteed he will get the work he needs for a productive day.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers Lock
Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard (Draft Kings Price 6.7K, FanDuel Price 7.4K)
If Hubbard was on a different team he might get 10 times the coverage he normally does. While he has been with Carolina, though, he’s been quietly one of the most consistent running backs in the league, scoring in the last three games straight. Given the fact that he went for 58 yards and a touchdown against the Chiefs in a loss, he is slowly becoming matchup-proof.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers Fade
Panthers QB Bryce Young (Draft Kings Price 5.8K, FanDuel Price 6.6K)
The one reason to play Young this week would be to save money on the quarterback position and spend elsewhere. There are plenty other quarterbacks on the cheap side, though: even Drake Maye and Will Levis are in better matchups than Young is against the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay’s defense just came off of holding New York to only six points, and while Carolina has a much better offense than New York, it still might be too much for Bryce Young to overcome.
