A Breakthrough Postseason For Cade Otton
January 22nd, 2024
Joe would not have wagered on Cade Otton hauling in 13 postseason catches for 154 yards and a touchdown.
Consider that Otton only caught 19 balls and 1 TD through the final eight games of the Bucs’ regular season.
What a finish to the 2023 campaign by Otton, the Bucs’ second-year tight end who never seems to come off the field. He’s turned into a hell of a fourth-round draft pick. And Joe is starting to wonder if Otton might have a little more juice to his game if he wasn’t being overworked because the Bucs are thin at tight end.
Otton was money yesterday against the Lions with 5 catches for 65 yards and a TD. He got past his Monday drops against the Eagles and wasn’t rattled on a bigger stage.
Otton showed up with 4 catches for 58 yards in the playoffs last season, one of the best outputs of his rookie campaign. So perhaps Otton is one of those guys who thrives when the heat is turned up.
January 22nd, 2024 at 5:22 am
Got past his drops? I saw numerous drops yesterday and i was trying not to watch the whole game.
January 22nd, 2024 at 5:33 am
He missed a throw that was behind him. No way that’s his fault. If he missed another then I too must have missed that part of the game. Monday night was another story. Regardless, the man had a good postseason.
January 22nd, 2024 at 5:33 am
I am excited to see the continued growth from Otton. He’s a solid receiving TE and covers up his size limitations with awareness and savvy route running. One of my favorite things about him is awareness for down and distance for first downs. The man is a first down machine and the man behind him in Durham may complete the TE duo of the future for us.
January 22nd, 2024 at 6:19 am
The rookie #87 looked decent when called on too. He was getting more snaps as the season went on. We can hit the ground running next year on offense with everyone having a full season plus of football in the system. Hopefully we take that step offensively next year like the Lions did this year.
January 22nd, 2024 at 6:32 am
Well, he does come from football royalty of thurston county.🤷♂️
January 22nd, 2024 at 6:47 am
Sorry. Otton is not good. He’s average. He dropped a lot. He never ran over anyone. He fell down a lot. His blocking is embarrassing.
Did he catch some passes? Sure. A Defense can’t cover everyone.
Average.
January 22nd, 2024 at 7:59 am
How many fourth round tight ends Don’t ever see the field? Call him average if you want, but tight end typically has a little bit more of a learning curve in the NFL. Everybody isn’t going to be LaPorta.
Otton is solid.
January 22nd, 2024 at 8:25 am
He’s not great but he is certainly above average……we need to draft a tight end high in this year’s draft….so we can have a 1-2 punch.
We also need an interior lineman & a RB.
Because of our failure with JTS and Shaq’s decline we also need another edge rusher.
January 22nd, 2024 at 8:36 am
OK, Otton caught a few playoff balls that hit him right in the hands. Mayfield will never say it but Otton was supposed to sit down in front of the zone defense in the play that led to the interception. It was clear that he got to deep on that pass. Mayfield not going to throw him under the bus but Otton should never have gotten behind the linebacker.
January 22nd, 2024 at 9:53 am
Otton is average at best. He improved a little over the year, but much of his success was just because Canales and Baker started targeting the TE’s more. He probably led the team in drops this year. He’s not a good blocker, whiffs on too many blocks.
January 22nd, 2024 at 10:12 am
Two Bucs more than any others had additional crosses to bear.
Following a GOAT at QB and a certain HOFer in Gronk was bound to leave some disappointment on whomever came next. Just the way the cookie crumbles.
Gronk raised TE expectations to off the chart. There is no TE who was going to replace him completely. He did it all..a massive guy who threw solid blocks and had great hands, ran great routes, and knew his QB and where to be when plays broke down. I do not expect to see another Gronk level TE on the Bucs anytime soon.
Otton won me over when I realized he WAS able to replace Cameron Brate. I always respected Brate…never a great player..but always a solid player. I think Otton may have an even higher ceiling.
January 22nd, 2024 at 10:29 am
Bucs aren’t drafting a TE this year. Position is filled with three young players all under contract still through 2025 for Otton and Kieft.
January 22nd, 2024 at 10:45 am
Too bad he ran that last pattern wrong.
Otherwise, yeah, he’s developing into a decent pass-catching TE. Now he needs to learn to BLOCK better.
January 22nd, 2024 at 10:49 am
Yup he’s a decent receiving tight end. Not intimidating as a blocker though at all.
I’m interested to see what we have in Durham as well. He’s made some plays in the passing game in recent weeks, and looks to have the physical traits to be a good blocker once he adds some NFL weight training.
January 22nd, 2024 at 11:39 am
Solid pick. He’s a receiving threat for sure. Not the best at blocking but he’s solid who cares what the haters say about him. He’s doing better then they are haha
January 22nd, 2024 at 11:51 am
Very pleased with Cade Otton, he was awesome making very difficult catches and getting open. He was good and can get better. He is a bright star for us!
January 22nd, 2024 at 7:20 pm
** “And Joe is starting to wonder if Otton might have a little more juice to his game if he wasn’t being overworked because the Bucs are thin at tight end.” **
This was spot on Joe. I also personally think Otton needs to maybe bulk up & train with the linemen this offseason to better perfect his craft towards blocking, but I definitely agree that having one more good to great TE could take Cade’s game into the next stratosphere. Arguably, I think the same can be said for Rachaad White too. Imagine if this offense keeps it’s 1A & 1B at WR & then does the same for our RB and TE room. We’d be close to unstoppable!!!
January 23rd, 2024 at 7:51 am
I thought Otton was a bright spot on the team. Seemed to come out of nowhere to become a very reliable receiver.