Making the most of his new opportunity

Underused at season’s start, Humphries now a go-to WR

TAMPA — Adam Humphries knows — especially given the array of receiving weapons around him in the Bucs offense — that no matter how often he gets open and how precise he runs his routes, there’s no guarantee the ball will come his way.

Four games into the season Humphries barely had scratched 100 total receiving yards. But the fourth-year slot receiver stayed patient, and now he is one of the team’s most dependable receivers on the way to the best season of his NFL career.

Coach Dirk Koetter gave Humphries the ultimate compliment this week, calling him “one of the steadiest and most consistent players on our team.”

Heading into Sunday’s home game against the division-rival Panthers, Humphries has scored four touchdowns in the past four games, a stretch that began with a careerhigh two-touchdown game against the Panthers on the road Nov. 4.

Despite not reaching the end zone over the season’s first seven games, Humphries is now on pace for a 67- catch, 792-yard, six-touchdown season, which would set career highs.

Compiling yards after the catch has always been a part of Humphries’ game — his speed and maneuverability make him tough to take down in the open field — but this year he has taken that part of his game to the next level.

“I guess that would be the big difference ,” Humphries said.

Humphries leads all Bucs receivers with 345 yards after the catch, and among wide receivers with at least 40 receptions, his 7.1-yard average after the catch ranks second in the NFL, trailing Rams wideout Cooper Kupp (7.6).

“If [Humphries is] not our best run-after-the-catch guy, you’re going to have to convince me otherwise because consistently, every time he’s getting it, he’s making something happen,” wide receivers coach Skyler Fulton said.

“The thing that ‘Hump’ doesn’t get is a ton of opportunities. Most times it’ s five targets, five catches. It’s not like it’s 12 targets and five catches.”

Humphries said that yards after the catch always has been a big deal for him.

“I remember my second year — I had a really good year with yards after the catch, and this year I’ve obviously been get- ting in the end zone more,” he said.

“At the beginning of the year, I made some goals for myself, and getting in the end zone more was a goal. Obviously, earlier in the year it didn’t happen, but I stayed patient and they’ve been coming to me the past couple weeks. And that ’s been awesome.”

Humphries’ 28-yard fourth-quarter touchdown reception in last weekend’s 27-9 win over the 49ers was a good example of that. Quarterback Jameis Winston scrambled to his right and found Humphries i n space at the 15-yard line, and Humphries used a cutback move at the 5 to juke a defender and get enough space and momentum to drag another 49ers defender into the end zone.

“That was a beautiful cutback on his score,” Koetter said. “I guess that’s maybe the punt returner in him. It looked like they had the angle on him, then he cut it back against the grain.

“[He is] just a real steady player on a team where there’s guys that get more targets than him. He’s kind of always in position and rarely makes a mistake.”

Humphries has made good use of his opportunities, catching 73 percent of targeted passes thrown his way, which is tied for seventh highest among NFL wide receivers. Over his past four games he has an 86.3 catch percentage, catching 19 of 22 targets.

“You just try to get north-south and protect the ball, but it’s really just more of a ‘ want to,’” Humphries said. “To me, I never know how many opportunities I’m going to get, so every opportunity I get I want to get as many yards as I can because that adds up at the end of the year.

“That’s just the mentality I have, and a lot of receivers in our building have that mentality to fight for more yards.”

Having this kind of season is well-timed for Humphries, whom the Bucs signed as an undrafted free agent out of Clemson in 2015. The 25-year-old can be a unrestricted free agent after the season.

“Hump is just one of those guys that doesn’t get as many chances as other guys,” Fulton said. “But as Hump continues to play football over the years, I believe he’s eventually going to be in a position, whether it’s here or somewhere else, where he gets to be more of a feature guy and we’re going to see Hump do some special things.”

MARK LOMOGLIO/AP Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Adam Humphries has four touchdowns in his past four games, including one on a 28-yard reception last Sunday in a win against the San Francisco 49ers. After a slow start to the season, Humphries is currently on a 67-catch pace.