Week 4 Buccaneers waiver wire: who to add

Tampa Bay lost 17-14 to Green Bay on Sunday and sits at 0-4. Rookie Jalon Daniels made his first NFL start in place of the injured Baker Mayfield, and the offense leaned on his legs: he ran for 55 yards and a touchdown, according to the FOX Sports box score. The Bucs also scored on a 2-yard run by Sean Tucker and a 10-yard catch by Kenny Gainwell.

Key facts

• Green Bay beat Tampa Bay 17-14 at Raymond James Stadium in Week 4, dropping the Buccaneers to 0-4.
• Rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels made his first NFL start and ran for 55 yards and a touchdown.
• Bucky Irving played 37 offensive snaps, Kenny Gainwell 27 and Sean Tucker 3, per Pewter Report's snap count analysis.
• Gainwell caught a 10-yard touchdown from Daniels and Tucker ran in a 2-yard touchdown.
• Tampa Bay plays at Dallas on Thursday, October 8, kickoff 8:15 p.m. Eastern Time (2:15 a.m. CEST on Friday).

That is not a script that creates many waiver-wire stars. We would rather say so than invent recommendations, so this week's list is short. Rostership percentages were not available from the sources we could read, so check your own league's free-agent pool before acting. Nothing below is a must-add.

The one add worth considering

Kenny Gainwell, RB, deep PPR leagues only. Gainwell played 27 snaps against the Packers, ten fewer than Bucky Irving's 37, and caught a touchdown pass from Daniels, per Pewter Report and the FOX Sports box score. The snap split matters more than the touchdown. Irving was limited in practice the week before with a glute issue, and if that flares up Gainwell is the back who steps in, not Tucker. As a standalone starter he is a fringe flex at best, since a touchdown catch is a hard thing to repeat. If you own Irving, hold Gainwell as insurance. If you do not, he is only worth a bench spot in deeper leagues where the pool is thin.

Who to leave alone

Sean Tucker, RB. He scored from 2 yards out but played just 3 snaps and did not see the field in a meaningful way afterward, per Pewter Report. A touchdown on three snaps is not a role. Skip him.

Ted Hurst III, WR. Our Week 4 start/sit piece mentioned Hurst as a deep-league add after he led the receivers in snaps in Week 3. That case weakened: Pewter Report has his snap share falling from 74% to 40% against Green Bay. Until the role stabilizes, he is a drop candidate in shallow leagues, not an add.

Cade Otton, TE. He caught four passes for 37 yards, the team high in receiving yards in the Pewter Report breakdown, and the same article calls him the focal point of the passing game. That is a decent streaming profile at a thin position, but the target totals in the sources we read do not agree with each other. [CHECK: Otton's target count for Week 4 and for the season, which two Pewter Report-sourced summaries list inconsistently.] Treat him as a streamer, not a priority.

Emeka Egbuka, WR. He played 94% of the snaps but caught only two passes for 13 yards. He is almost certainly rostered everywhere already, and the usage is a reason for patience, not an add.

Jalon Daniels, QB. The rushing production is real, but a rookie with a 0-4 offense around him is still a risky option. We would only look at him in superflex or two-quarterback formats. [CHECK: Daniels' passing line, since the one box score we could read showed 134 yards for the team and nothing more detailed.]

Next week: at Dallas, Thursday night

The Bucs visit the Cowboys on Thursday, October 8, at 8:15 p.m. Eastern Time (2:15 a.m. CEST on Friday), on Thursday Night Football. Covers' opening line has Dallas favored by 9.5 with a total of 47.5, and its write-up describes Tampa Bay as winless and playing a backup quarterback. Lines move, and we saw one other source with a very different spread, so recheck before kickoff.

Buccaneers D/ST, not a stream. The defense was credited with no sacks against a reshaped Packers offensive line, and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. left the game early with an oblique injury. Playing at a high-powered offense on a short week is a poor matchup for a streaming defense.

Chase McLaughlin, K, only if you are desperate. A big underdog that struggles to finish drives can mean field-goal attempts, but we could not confirm his Week 4 kicks from the sources we read, so we are not recommending him. If you stream kickers anyway, check the Thursday injury report first.

The takeaway: this is a week to hold your waiver priority. The Bucs offense is producing in small pieces, and nobody in it is moving the needle enough to burn a claim on.