Vincent Jackson, Mike Evans' Fantasy Outlook with Mike Glennon as QB

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have the last-ranked passing offense in the NFL through three games. Fantasy owners who have invested in Bucs receivers Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans have been disappointed to say the least.

But hope may be on the horizon with a new quarterback running the show in Mike Glennon. ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that Glennon will likely start in Week 4's road game against the Pittsburgh Steelers:

Glennon played rather well as a rookie last year, throwing 19 touchdowns to only nine interceptions. With his superior arm talent, he can take better advantage of massive targets like Jackson and Evans in terms of pushing the ball deep.

But until Glennon demonstrates a willingness to let longer passes fly, neither Jackson nor Evans will see their fantasy outlooks improve all that much.

In relief of an injured McCown during last week's 56-14 loss in Atlanta, Glennon checked it down often, as Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times noted:

That may have been due to the fact that the game was a blowout and Tampa Bay was forced into obvious passing situations, therefore putting heat on Glennon early and forcing checkdowns. Nevertheless, it was a discouraging sign for an offense in desperate need of some dynamic playmaking.

Per Tom Krasniqi of 95.3FM Tampa Bay, Evans seems to think more plays attacking that area of the field are on the horizon:

Seeing is believing. Glennon has to prove he can execute such plays before either of his two talented wideouts are touted as explosive fantasy threats.

The underwhelming production Jackson and Evans have put forth thus far in 2014 hasn't been due to a lack of effort. Jackson has been targeted 25 times, better than eight opportunities per game, yet he's only hauled in 10 receptions for 102 yards. In his previous five full seasons, the veteran has gone over 1,000 yards.

Part of the chemistry issues might be due to the medical leave of absence offensive coordinator Jeff Tedford has had to take.

Unfortunately, Tampa Bay got more bad news on that front from head coach Lovie Smith on Wednesday, per News Talk Florida's Jenna Laine:

Ross Jones of Fox Sports reported that Jackson has a small fracture in his wrist that he will play through. The toughness is admirable, but it doesn't bode well for Jackson's fantasy outlook moving forward, especially with an uncertain commodity in Glennon under center.

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

Evans is a rookie but has made more of his targets, hauling in 13 of 21 passes thrown his way—albeit for just 138 yards, a 10.6-yard average.

Alessandro Miglio of FootballGuys.com brought about an interesting point that could give Evans' fantasy owners some hope, though:

To look into the immediate future, Week 4's showdown with the Steelers, Jackson and Evans may be in for their best games yet. Pittsburgh cornerback Ike Taylor broke his forearm in last week's game, so that is a big blow to an already thin Steelers CB corps.

Injuries to Pittsburgh linebackers Ryan Shazier and Jarvis Jones may also help Glennon's cause to succeed.

If the Bucs don't shore up their own defense (31st in scoring, 28th in total yards allowed), though, Pittsburgh's No. 1-ranked rushing attack featuring Le'Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount will run all over them.

That will create a similar, nightmarish scenario Tampa Bay faced in Week 3, and Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau can dial up his complex blitzes to rattle Glennon at Heinz Field.

There are a lot of extenuating circumstances regarding the flow of Sunday's game, what type of game plan the Bucs devise and whether they'll keep Pittsburgh honest by challenging its secondary downfield.

Talented as both Jackson and Evans are, Tampa Bay's ineptitude on offense to date needs to be rectified before either wideout can be deployed as anything other than a WR2 in deeper leagues or in the flex spot.

Glennon hasn't proved enough yet to be the cure to what ails the Bucs' anemic passing game.

Projected Week 4 Stats: Jackson has four receptions for 50 yards; Evans has six receptions for 60 yards and a TD.