Bucs Add UDFA WR Matthew Henry as Egbuka, McMillan, Johnson All Bang Up
Tampa's receiver room is dinged up in Week 3 of the preseason, and a Western Kentucky rookie with 888 yards last fall is the emergency plug.
Toe issue is a preseason precaution, not a draft-day dodge.
- Henry: 55 rec, 888 yds, 6 TD at WKU in 2025
- Egbuka our WR23, 194 PPR pts in 2025 (17 gms)
- Three Bucs WRs missed practice this week
- McKnight (hamstring) to IR in corresponding move
- Henry went undrafted, tried out with TEN and SF
The Buccaneers signed undrafted rookie receiver Matthew Henry on Tuesday, and the timing tells the whole story. Tampa's wideout depth chart is limping into the final week of the preseason — Emeka Egbuka (toe), Jalen McMillan (knee) and Tez Johnson (groin) have all missed practice time this week — so the team needed a warm body who could actually run routes.
Henry brings a real résumé for a camp arm. He started all 13 games at Western Kentucky in 2025, catching 55 passes for 888 yards and six touchdowns en route to second-team All-Conference USA honors. That came after stops at Western Illinois and Livingstone College, and after going undrafted in April he took tryouts with the Titans and 49ers before landing here. To clear the spot, the Bucs placed rookie DL Deshawn McKnight on injured reserve with a hamstring he tweaked in Saturday's preseason win over Kansas City.
What It Means for the Room
Let's be clear about the ceiling here: Henry is a depth signing, not a fantasy pivot. Undrafted rookies who join a team this late in August are auditioning for a practice squad slot, not a Week 1 target share. If he sticks, he sticks quietly. Nobody in a redraft league needs to know his name yet.
The more interesting signal is why Tampa needed him at all. Egbuka is our WR23 and NFL No. 68 overall after posting 194 PPR points across 17 games last season (2025) — 63 catches, 938 yards, six scores in his rookie year. A toe issue in late August reads as maintenance, not a red flag, but you'd rather see him practicing than watching.
Behind him, the picture is murkier. McMillan is unranked after managing just 12 catches for 178 yards in four games in 2025, and now he's dealing with a knee. Tez Johnson (our WR65) chipped in 92 PPR points over 16 games last year but is nursing a groin. None of that changes their draft cost much, but it does mean this room's health is worth tracking through Week 3.
The fantasy move: HOLD Egbuka at his current WR23 value and don't overreact to a preseason toe. Ignore Henry on waivers for now — file the name away only if he survives cuts and the injuries linger into the regular season. Keep an eye on the McMillan and Johnson updates, because if either lands on IR, Egbuka's target monopoly gets even friendlier.
