Surprising Receiving Numbers For Bucs
February 3rd, 2026
Torn on Cade Otton.
Looking at receiving stats from the Bucs last year, two surprising things stood out.
Emeka Egbuka fell off the map after the bye, just like Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield did. Was that a cause and effect with Egbuka? It’s unclear.
Despite having an awful second half of the season, Egbuka still led the Bucs in catches and receiving. That sort of shows how dominant he was before the bye.
How much of Mayfield’s poor second half of the season affected Egbuka? Joe’s sure there was a cause and effect, but how much is unclear.
Then there was Cade Otton. He was second on the team in catches and receiving yards. And Otton really didn’t have a major, positive impact (he sure had a negative impact) in the passing game until the last game of the season when he scored on an 18-yard catch.
That was Otton’s lone touchdown of the season. And finally he was targeted on a long pass. That had been missing from the Bucs’ offense. That lone play made Joe think maybe there is a future for Otton in Tampa.
Otton was mostly used in the run game when the Bucs, seemingly every time Otton was in motion, ran behind him. And it’s not like Otton is the second coming of Jimmie Giles, who was a crushing blocker.
Joe thought Otton was misused all year. Maybe former Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard lost trust in Otton because Otton had two ghastly turnovers, one against the Lions and another against the Rams where he was outmuscled for the ball.
If used right, Otton could be a weapon like he showed against the Stinking Panthers in Week 18.
In 2024, Otton carried the Bucs’ passing game when both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin were hurt. So he has it in him to be a clutch target.
Joe would not be shocked if the Bucs draft a tight end high in the draft. If Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles is not on the board when the Bucs draft at No. 15, Joe would love to see the Bucs draft Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq.
Joe thinks Baylor tight end and Tampa native Michael Trigg is way underrated. He may not be much for blocking but he can sure stretch the field.
Having a Bucs tight end stretch the field down the seam or down the sideline was sorely missed last season.
We will find out next month how valuable the Bucs think Otton is. Can he be a guy who can stretch the field? He proved against Carolina he can be that guy. Will new Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson use him that way? Does Robinson even want Otton? That’s another story.
February 3rd, 2026 at 12:24 am
Otton is mediocre
February 3rd, 2026 at 12:56 am
I’ll take mediocre for a TE. Too many highly drafted TEs fail to deliver on their draft position. We don’t need another OJ Howard who was considered a lock to be a polished and complete TE. If we can get Otton for a mediocre salary, I’m all for it.
February 3rd, 2026 at 1:43 am
“Joe thought Otton was misused all year.”
Ditto Joe. Otten helped in the run game a bunch prior to last year. Downfield blocking in Coen’s offense, and catching the ball. Gotta get him more involved, Particularly in the red zone. 2 TDs by a TE on the year? The other was Culp?
“outmuscled for the ball.” I am aware nothing gets you benched faster than a turnover but the Otton stuff last year was just plain freakish. Brady would go right back to him on the next offensive play.
Go Bucs!
Go Bucs!
February 3rd, 2026 at 2:06 am
Sign Kyle Pitts!
February 3rd, 2026 at 3:14 am
Draft best player available R1
Free Agency to sign holes such as Edge / LB
February 3rd, 2026 at 4:05 am
‘Joe would not be shocked if the Bucs drafted a tight end high in the draft.’
I sure would. The Top 4 picks must go to the defense, and even that won’t be close to enough to fix the talent issues we saw last season. Bucs’ defense needs TWO linebackers, an Edge, a beastly DT just to replace starters. Plus probably 5-6 other quality defenders to serve as key rotational players.
Right now the Bucs have 52 players signed. I could see us keeping 15 offense, 14 defense & 1 S/Ts (the rest are either unknowns or need to be replaced). We also have 25 players from last season who are currently Free Agents. I’d probably re-sign 4 of those (Evans, Otton, Tucker & Deckers), although several others are distinct possibilities if we can’t find upgrades in the draft or FA market.
That’d leave us with 19 holes to fill to complete our 53-man roster, with a max of 7 coming from the draft & the other 12 from the FA pool. Obviously not gonna happen (too many), so we’ll end up re-signing some guys who played for us last year as ‘bridges’ to 2027. Can’t fix all of this mess in 1 year; far too many upgrades needed. Doesn’t bode all that well for our 2026 season as it stands right now.
February 3rd, 2026 at 6:42 am
I honestly think switching to a 4-3 defense solves a lot of issues with personnel.
Call me crazy, but even Sirvocea Dennis would benefit from it.
Benjamin Morrison is better than he played last year. Jacob Parrish can play one CB position if Dean doesn’t come back. Zyon is a mystery and we HAVE to stop paying these guys who get their bag and get hurt. It’s a cop out. Why did Dean wait so long to get his body right? Because it was a contract year.
Stop throwing money at guys because you are SCARED to lose them.
Any confidence at all from our DC and these guys don’t get paid like that.
Of course Dean is like Todd’s son so who knows. Zyon reminds me of JTS. all we hear is how much better he is getting but then we don’t see it. You shouldn’t get paid $15 Million plus at the CB position unless you have had 4-5 picks in a year. That probably never happens for McCollum.
February 3rd, 2026 at 6:48 am
I think we should go D. We do not need a TE. Too many mouths to feed
February 3rd, 2026 at 7:12 am
We need to get back to the culture that BA brought in back in 2019, nasty hard hitting, violent type players on offense n defense at every level excluding players such as Sean Murphy n Jamal Dean. Let’s move on from Cade Otton, he’s too soft n passive he let defenders Dboe him, just bully him n take the ball. Dean is fragile, injury prone n an awful tackler. Braswell n Logan Hall both passive type players. Why do we continue to seek these type of players?
February 3rd, 2026 at 7:15 am
Can we just a tight end, or a gamelan, to get said tight end past the sticks on third and fourth down. How many times was Cade one to two yards short in these situations last year. That is what was really frustrating.
February 3rd, 2026 at 7:21 am
Otton is that frustrating level of player. Definitely good enough to start but also one you are always wanting to upgrade. The problem is you never do because of priorities elsewhere
February 3rd, 2026 at 7:24 am
I would be quite annoyed if we use a first round pick on a TE when our front 7 is so soft
February 3rd, 2026 at 7:50 am
For the love of god please just fix the defense.
Even if Evans retired which he isnt…Jalen McMillan looked like a dawg when he returned and I have to say id start him over Emeka right now. He looks like a legit starter.
With good playcalling this offense is set. If anything draft another offensive lineman mid rounds but please somebody fix the damn defense!
February 3rd, 2026 at 8:16 am
Def first 3 picks please
February 3rd, 2026 at 8:20 am
Otton isnt good. Inconsistent hands with limited athleticism. Signing Pitts is an option but why would he want to come here?
If the Bucs take a WR, TE or RB within the first 4 rounds then Licht should be fired on the spot.
February 3rd, 2026 at 8:26 am
@ATLBuc,
I agree with you bro, I would sign him in a second, if not I would keep Otton, fans go after him, because they need somebody to blame, but he is a good TE, no doubt ion my mind, but I agree, I would sin Pitts
February 3rd, 2026 at 8:28 am
You can look at this Bucs mess one of two ways knowing they are going to have score a sh!t-ton of points to overcome the Bowles pathetic defense in 2026… draft BPA, knowing it could very well be a TE, netting another weapon because your defense is atrocious and you must score 30 each Sunday to give your team a chance OR devote 90% of your FA $$$ and draft picks to filling in all the holes on defense. To me, Otton is a JAG (just another guy) but we have far reaching issues on the other side of the ball. A complete overhaul is needed.
February 3rd, 2026 at 8:37 am
I am torn here, otton is a solid blocker and I think he was phased out of the offensive game plans due to bookend defensive fronts, the rams game was his worst outing as a player,our offensive line killed the year he could have had he is solid but I think if Devin Culp could block as well as Orton we would not be having this conversation. What I know of the bucs is they have a wait for your opportunity type culture i.e.earnest Graham, Keyshawn vaugh same is said for the tight end position it seems like who ever the lead guy is gets all the reps I would love for us to use the tight ends like Buffalo/Baltimore does andrews/likely/Kosar and kincaid/Knox/other guy…but with us it’s Otton 90% of the time and our other tight ends get reps all year they can count on 2 hands
February 3rd, 2026 at 8:49 am
Otton is as solid a TE as you can have in todays NFL. Payne Durham has to be one of the worst TEs in the NFL and Culp is basically a WR lining up in the TE slot.
February 3rd, 2026 at 8:59 am
Whenever Godwin or Evans were unavailable that’s when Cade starts getting more attention as a receiving target.
2025, in our 6 games before Mike went down, Cade had 17 targets. In the 3 games including the beatdown in Motown, Cade had 26 targets from the Lions game to the Patriots game.
Of course, with this fanbase, we’ll remember a handful of bad plays while staying oblivious to everything else that determines/sets a players’ value.
February 3rd, 2026 at 9:18 am
Get out the pitchforks if Licht takes Sadiq in rd 1. Resign Otton or don’t but don’t overpay. Pitts is looking for a giant bag. We can’t afford him either. Maybe get Likely if not too expensive. Otherwise find a mid-sized competent FA or late round draft target. Shoot our wad on defense.
February 3rd, 2026 at 10:08 am
Grizz didn’t value TE’s and Otton just wasn’t targeted much, and too often targeted short of the sticks, that’s not on him. Actually, he had decent YAC numbers. Dev Culp was targeted only once – criminal for a deep threat TE. Payne Durham was drafted as a lower red zone threat, but that never happened, and he got only about 4 targets.
I’m not sure I want Pitts, while he’s a good receiver, his blocking isn’t as good as Cade. Pitts will cost a lot more than Otton and I’d rather spend the money on defense. The Bucs TE coach, Justin Peele worked with Pitts in ATL so he could be heavily consulted in the Pitts vs Otton discussions.
For the WR’s, Shepard had some good numbers this season. He had only two penalties, compared to the six last year when I crucified him for it. His 74% catch % was second to JMac 80%) but ahead of Chris (65%). Shep had ZERO drops, better than JMac and Chris. Congrats to Shep for a great year.
February 3rd, 2026 at 10:11 am
@Easy The Great, you have to start watching the games. PFF had Durham listed as the second best run blocking TE in the league. Culp was grossly misused by Grizzard. Absolutely no reason he isn’t used to stretch the field vertically. That’s on Grizz. Even going back to Coen and a Canales, they used Durham down the seam and threw to him. Just to move a safety over , which opens the outside for the WRs. Otton is serviceable and as you said, as solid as you need in this league. If we draft a TE, we deserve the crappy defense we have.
February 3rd, 2026 at 10:31 am
Cade Otton is great.
I know Joe has to cover all possibilities, but if ever there was a time for an all defensive draft, this is it. If we don’t land at least 3 defensive stars, it’ll take another year to build the defense.
February 3rd, 2026 at 11:54 am
I like Otten a lot! Very reliable. Like you said, he was misused all of last year due to the injuries on the offensive line. Blocking for the missing tackles the first half year. Then trying to make up for the poor guard play the rest of the year. And the fact that the play calling was so predictable ( you pointed out they ran behind him almost every time he was in motion) he shouldn’t be blamed for not being productive. Re-sign him and use him properly and all of Joebucs fans will be very happy.
February 3rd, 2026 at 12:00 pm
With Otto here, I’m not spending a valuable pick on te. Bigger needs with higher returns
February 3rd, 2026 at 12:06 pm
Joe thinks Baylor tight end and Tampa native Michael Trigg is way underrated. He may not be much for blocking but he can sure stretch the field.
Same can be said for Devin Culp… and he cannot get on the field… which seems criminal.
February 3rd, 2026 at 12:29 pm
Draft D front to back. Please no more undersized CBs or injury history players. We need studs along the D line, which we grossly failed to address, again, last draft.
Rd 1: D line
Rd 2: LB
Rd 3: D line
Rd 4: LB
Rds 5-7: trade up or use as FA trade bait.
February 3rd, 2026 at 11:28 pm
Otton is a weapon. A lot of people hate on him but he’s bin steady Eddie since being drafted. Brady’s last season Otton was a rook and caught the game winning TD against the rams and I knew he would be a starting TE in this league. I know he’s not super athletic but if he’s used properly he can stretch the field some. Let’s be honestly TE is not a hole on this team. Focused needs to be on defense. For the hater people hated on cam Brate too and look Jason found him undrafted. Sign Otton use him properly and get Devin developed he’s got the speed.