2 min read • May 29, 2022
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When Chris Godwin went down in Week 15 last year with a torn right ACL, it not only dashed the Buccaneers’ hopes of repeating as Super Bowl champions, but it put in doubt the pro bowl wideouts’ chances at signing a top-level contract.
While Tampa Bay went down in the NFC Divisional round, Godwin got a three-year, $60 million deal that will keep him in Florida through his 20s and give him ample time to recover from the traumatic injury.
The contract shows the Bucs’ confidence in Godwin, but, the ProFootballDocs ask, when will he be able to pay back that confidence with performance?
As the Docs noted when he went down on December 19, Godwin is unlikely to be ready to play Week 1, and will be ineffective until the second half of the season.
He has an SIC health score of 62, meaning his output will be roughly two-thirds of his production in past seasons.
While the timeline isn’t identical, we can look to Odell Beckham Jr.’s return from a mid-season torn ACL in 2021 as a baseline for what to expect from the perennial 1,000-yard slot target.
Beckham Jr. was inactive for the first two weeks of the season and, through Week 10, caught 19 passes on 37 targets for 250 yards and no scores. He was a productive No. 2 receiver in Los Angeles during the second half of the campaign and peaked in the playoffs, during which he had 21 receptions for 288 yards and two touchdowns before he suffered a second torn ACL in the first half of the Super Bowl.
Playing with Tom Brady and alongside Mike Evans, Leonard Fournette, and potentially Rob Gronkowski certainly won’t hurt his chances of being productive next season, but there is simply no way he will be 100% until he approaches a year post-surgery.
He will most likely start the regular season on the PUP list, given his January surgery, and return sometime in the first few weeks, much like OBJ.
When fully healthy, Godwin is one of the most consistent receivers in the NFL: In only 14 games last season, Godwin caught 98 passes for 1,103 yards and five touchdowns while sacrificing targets to Evans, Gronkowski, and Antonio Brown.
When his knee regains its strength and stability, he will be able to return to this state of production.
But that won't be in 2022.
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