Midnight Madness From Chris Godwin
May 27th, 2017
Third-round pick, first-round work ethic.
Leaning on Mike Evans and America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston, during business hours at One Buc Palace isn’t enough for rookie receiver Chris Godwin.
When Godwin returns to the Buccaneers’ team hotel, it’s back to business and roommate O.J. Howard — all night.
“Yeah man, there’s so much in this playbook you have to spend a lot of time studying or else you’re going to be behind,” Godwin told Joe. “We get done [at One Buc] by 6 p.m., and I’m literally up till like 11:30, midnight, just studying, catching up on everything and making sure I have everything memorized.”
Godwin said he’s enjoying getting to know Howard’s personality, saying he’s soft spoken and mature.
But it’s the study time that Godwin really seems to relish. No more college homework and distractions for the third-round pick out of Penn State.
“The best part of being a pro is the unlimited amount of time to devote to bettering your craft. That’s the coolest part,” Godwin said. “We all love football. Now as a pro, you can just focus solely on football.”
It’s so early, but Godwin’s quick adjustment in spring practices, plus his A-list attitude and approach illustrated above, is damn exciting for a Bucs fanbase that’s been starved mercilessly for depth at receiver.
May 27th, 2017 at 10:29 am
I think he will contribute quite a bit this season and I think the best 3 WR’s will be starting. I think it will be interesting to see if Godwin becomes the starting slot receiver over Rudy. I like Rudy but Godwin has a better skill set quite possibly and ME13, DJax and Godwin can be shuffled around to create the best mismatches. I think this is going to be the best Bucs offense ever and if we can get an elite RB next season along with Godwin and O.J getting a year under their belts, the offense could be even better which is scary to think about for the rest of the league.
I do think we could with a few more solid drafts and key free agent acquisitions actually be the first team to win a Super Bowl on their home turf. Since this team has a lot of youth and is being built to be dominant for several years to come.
May 27th, 2017 at 10:46 am
Rayjay – next year’s draft will probably be a defensive heavy draft so there might not be room for another RB. We have a couple of DTs getting up there, a CB defying age, an aging DE and OT that all need to be replaced in the near future.
May 27th, 2017 at 10:47 am
Rayjay
I hear you about our SB. The team should be at it’s peak…star players will all be in their primes in their late 20’s….they will have a half dozen years of experience and as a team forged in the fire together.
For many of the real optimists here will SB LV be the 2nd or 3rd SB this team wins together!!!!! Go Bucs!!!
May 27th, 2017 at 10:55 am
Godwin is a legitimate starting-caliber NFL WR.
He will be one of the best WR3 in the league right out the gate.
And don’t get stuck on ‘oh he’s not gonna start in the slot over Hump’…
That’s silly think when all of our WR are going to be playing all 3 positions and rotating around on various plays etc…
Godwin’s talent and determination are going to command the 3rd highest amount of playing time after Evans and Djax.
Hump will plays less plays than Godwin when it’s all saidamd done
May 27th, 2017 at 11:11 am
Hump is going to struggle to see field on offense which is a good thing. He’ll have to keep improving on special teams to guarantee a roster spot. Again a good thing.
Please God keep Godwin away from and safe from the career loser cancer93 he’s ruined enough young men over the years with his mentally weak approach and love of losing
May 27th, 2017 at 11:19 am
Watch out, that’s all I’m typing….. just watch out.
Seems to me it’s all on Jameis now, he’s GOT the weapons. Anyone NOT excited?
May 27th, 2017 at 11:20 am
Think situational football – something for everybody. Listen to Winston’s presser at minute 2:30 – having so many weapons will not be a problem – everybody’s gonna git some – I don’t discriminate. Nice to have both Godwin and Hump at the table – both will eat!
May 27th, 2017 at 11:24 am
The other thing that he has is the ability and desire to be a presence in the bucs run game. Was really peeved we passed on him in the second. So happy he made it to our third
May 27th, 2017 at 11:25 am
maxi pad in the house – trying to ruin an otherwise positive article about our shiny new WR with inane “loser” babble about our 5X Pro Bowl DT.
No direct response other than the observation is necessary. Lets not feed this troll in here today folks.
As for Godwin? I was super excited that we were able to get him in the 3rd round. And his early showing is very very promising. Sounds like his attitude and commitment to work hard is right where it needs to be.
May 27th, 2017 at 11:25 am
Joe, you can also put first round skillset in that caption too
May 27th, 2017 at 11:51 am
I can see Godwin beating out Hump as the #3 WR but I think he’s more of an outside WR so they’ll probably put DJax in the slot with Evans and Godwin on the outside in 3 WR sets. That could be a match up nightmare for defenses.
May 27th, 2017 at 11:51 am
Obviously more than a few high quality WRs on the roster. Depth should not be a problem this year.
May 27th, 2017 at 12:18 pm
Hump will be a good number 4, the ability to move Godwin outside and put Jackson in the slot and vice versa you can add a lot of wrinkles
May 27th, 2017 at 12:29 pm
Attrition will make fools of all who forecast starters with any certainty.
Lets see how TC and the PS go before we crown anyone a starter.
Trust the coaches and enjoy the ride during OTA, TC and PS competition.
By the time the RS starts we’ll know for sure who is going to start.
Again, Hump is not going anywhere and the rookies have a long climb.
Has Godwin even signed yet..?? Jus Sayin’
May 27th, 2017 at 1:02 pm
Wake Joe up come September if Godwin hasn’t signed. Total non-issue until then.
May 27th, 2017 at 1:25 pm
It’s interesting to look at all these shiny new toys from Jameis’ perspective. Back in his 2015 rookie year, Jameis hit on 58% of his 535 passes for 4,042 yds. Martin & Sims got targeted 114 times (other 2 backs only 5 times). Evans & Humphries got targeted 188 times (other 4 WRs 119 times). Brate got targeted 30 times (other 3 TEs 69 times). (It also looks like 10 passes got deflected at the line). So Martin, Sims, Evans, Humphries & Brate got 332 of the 535 passes (62%) … the other 9 RB/WR/TE got 193 targets (36%).
Things changed a bunch last year it looks like. Jameis improved to hitting on 61% of his 567 passes for 4,090 yds. Martin & Sims got targeted much less … 48 times (other 4 RBs got targeted 35 times). Evans & Humphries got targeted a lot more … 256 times (other 5 WRs stayed about the same at 116 times). Brate got targeted a bunch more also … 81 times (other 4 TEs got 35 targets). So Martin, Sims, Evans, Humphries & Brate got 385 of Jameis’ 567 passes (68%), while the other 13 RB/WR/TE got 186 targets (33%).
Jameis improved even though he had to rely on his primary 5 guys more, and they obviously had more difficulty getting open. He’s still got those same 5 guys to rely on, but now he’s also got DJax, OJ, Godwin & hopefully McNIchols. Wouldn’t be at all surprised to see his accuracy improve to 65-67% range, and his total yds exceed 4,500 this year. It’s gonna be exciting.
May 27th, 2017 at 1:30 pm
It may be just me but I am not getting any Kenny Bell, Chris Owasu vibes from this kid. I think he is the real deal. I think we got the best non first round WR in the draft and we stole him in the Third. A LOT of teams are going to regret on not taking CG
May 27th, 2017 at 1:32 pm
Love this kid already
May 27th, 2017 at 1:39 pm
My G Mick said it best yesterday Erik “its a Win-Win situation”.
May 27th, 2017 at 1:43 pm
And Mac he wasn’t lying,in 2013 Kelvin Benjamin,Rashard Greene,Nick O’leary,(d@$! I forgot his first name)Shaw as well as Devonta Freeman out the backfield all ate well that season. See the philly game his rookie year.
May 27th, 2017 at 1:45 pm
Both Vernon Hargreaves and Adarius Glanton had interceptions in practice today for the Bucs. Hargreaves also had a pick yesterday. “We challenged him to take the ball away more this year,” head coach Dirk Koetter said of Hargreaves. “He’s done that in his first couple of days here.”
…………….
Nothing to worry about with VH3. He will be better in his second yr, and barring injury will be elite next yr.
May 27th, 2017 at 1:57 pm
Good to know we have a solid big 4 foundation for the foreseeable future in Winston, Evans, Howard , and Godwin. We’ll have to see if Mcnichols can be great too. And i dont think we can afford to pay Cam Brate in the future.
May 27th, 2017 at 2:26 pm
A great looking rookie WR, 6’1″, Fast, good route runner, catches with his hands, likes to run block. A 3rd round draft choice. Wow! Happy when we drafted him. Appears to have a focused driven purpose to playing WR.
I like the Draft choices that we made this year and have been happy overall in all of our current GM drafts. This reflects not only on our GM, but his staff and scouting crew. Who have given him sound advice on solid players so far during his running of our team. Perfect no, no one ever is. But a steady supply of solid good players makes for difficult decisions come the end of training camp.
Go Bucs!
May 27th, 2017 at 2:35 pm
Great article! I hope Godwin’s attitude will rub off on CJ.
May 27th, 2017 at 2:58 pm
Its underwear football season…yes he is showing flashes (great feet on TD in practice) that he will be a good one but lets not crown him NFL YOR awards yet. Lets see what he looks like with the pads on and the NFL game speed. He is smart for studying his craft because in the NFL you have to be able to anticipate the play to be a good player. Bucs need WR depth and hopefully this guy will stick for long time.
May 27th, 2017 at 3:30 pm
Godwin is not a late round gamble at wide receiver like Kenny Bell. I would be shocked if the Bucs don’t expect big contributions from him as a third round draft pick.
To Defense Rules point about increased targets to Hump,I believe he took
touches away Sims and Martin that they might catch out of the backfield in the flat.The wide receiver screen was used a lot and I think that is Hump’s strength.For example in the last game it seemed like there 8 or 10 of them with Evans as the lead blocker. That may have been because Evans was still feeling the effects from the hit he took from the one handed high pass from Jameis in the previous game.He also had a limited role in the pro bowl and he said it was his choiceafter the game.
Also the chemistry between Jameis and VJAX wasn’t there.and Jameis’s
confidence grew with Hump,
May 27th, 2017 at 3:39 pm
It exciting to hear someone is so into studying , it’s all about the brains if you ain’t got them you ain’t no good! Lol
May 27th, 2017 at 3:51 pm
Defense, I see Jameis staying around 4000 yards but with 30+ TDs and a lot of running the ball in the 4th due to our big leads!
May 27th, 2017 at 4:01 pm
What Pickgrin said @ 11:25. No food here. He already vomited his toxic word salad in another post.
May 27th, 2017 at 4:16 pm
Chris Godwin is a God send
May 27th, 2017 at 4:27 pm
I don’t see this guy being our #3 receiver. Maybe 3a 3b with Hump. And he’ll probably get some snaps #2. I just don’t see him being better at Humps main role as possession receiver. Hump takes a lot of hits over the middle and is really good at being fearless and getting us those tough grinding yards.
We have two guys like that with Brate and Hump and it makes our offense extremely difficult to defend on 3rd and short. We should be even more deadly with Evans Djax and hopefully OJ stretching the field.
May 27th, 2017 at 6:11 pm
Godwin = anquan boldin. Thats what i see
May 27th, 2017 at 6:32 pm
I see how you can say that webster and if he proves to be as good as young Boldin was then Wowser we made a h3ll of pick in the third.
May 27th, 2017 at 7:44 pm
This dudes gonna be special….work ethic is everything
May 27th, 2017 at 8:56 pm
The key to Hump is first, he will likely not be lower than #4 when camp is done. But even if he #5, he will still likely return punts for the time being. So his special team play will help him…not to mention we know Koetter likes him a lot.
May 28th, 2017 at 4:21 pm
This young man has a professional & winning attitude. Think he just might be my next jersey purchase, sounds like he’s going to give me no choice providing he can stay healthy.
May 29th, 2017 at 1:27 am
WR Chris Godwin is just what the doctor ordered. I noticed on his highlight reel that he caught some big play catches against some of the best cornerbacks in college football like USC’s Adoree’ Jackson and Ohio States Gareon Conley. He could end up being the best receiver drafted this year. Great hands and will pay dividends quickly. Will be yet another great Jason Licht draft pick.