Rising Devin Culp
July 31st, 2025
High ceiling.
Joe has maintained since last year there is a potential breakout player on the Bucs offense that doesn’t get a lot of run.
The Bucs have a deep tight end group. Cade Otton leads the way and he’s at worst, a top-15 tight end. Otton is a solid player.
Now Joe knows Payne Durham, who is a large man, gets a lot of folks hungry for more. One of those people includes Chucky.
But the guy Joe believes has the highest ceiling of any of the Bucs tight ends is second-year man Devin Culp. Why is Joe a believer? Culpcan stretch the field almost like a wide receiver. Big-play ability.
So Joe was happy to see a seasoned NFL observer like prickly Pete Prisco of CBS pick up on Culp at Bucs training camp.
Joe fully agrees. Culp is a deep-play weapon. And he’s big enough to go get the ball and fight defensive backs. Culp has a nice wingspan.
Since Otton has been slowed and sidelined with a hamstring issue in training camp, Culp has done nothing but take advantage. Getting a bunch of reps with the “ones” (first-team offense), Culp seems to make a play every practice. Often more than one. And those plays are usually downfield catches.
All an organization can hope for is a player, when given opportunities, takes advantage of them. That’s just what Culp has done this summer.
Just like last year. When Culp finally got into games, he averaged almost 18 yards a catch.
Again, no knock on Otton or Durham.
July 31st, 2025 at 12:22 am
Joe’s readers and lots of fun-of-the-mill Bucs fans have been onto this guy for more than a year. Hope he can I’ll up enough to be a more rounded player. But for speed and receiving ability he’s in the mold of the modern split off tight end.
July 31st, 2025 at 12:56 am
Maybe Grizzard can use him similar to how the Kansas City Chiefs use Kelce, never know.
July 31st, 2025 at 1:06 am
Dude is fast for sure. Line up him and Durham next to each once in a while… Cause some big mismatches in man coverage.
July 31st, 2025 at 2:11 am
Thats a lot of big talk for a 3rd string TE drafted in the 7th round who is a poor blocker with career NFL stats of 5 catches for 88 yards…..
Lets not get too excited yet – just because the guy ran a fast 40 time for his position and caught a handful of balls last year.
Markees Watts shows promise too – has had similar ‘success’ with limited opportunities and all Joe does is make fun of Watts (and Ramirez) at every opportunity…..
July 31st, 2025 at 3:46 am
a crafty play caller should be able to abuse defenses with this underrated group…
so much focus has to be on the wr and rb units, that tight end exploitation , if used correctly, should be a perfect accent piece to what we assume will be a potent offense…
about now
hopefully the group isn’t a forgotten, offensive piece…
these guys, outside of culp, should kind of be in their primes right about now
July 31st, 2025 at 4:04 am
Joe … ‘Culp is a deep-play weapon. And he’s big enough to go get the ball and fight defensive backs. Culp has a nice wingspan. Culp seems to make a play every practice. Often more than one. And those plays are usually downfield catches.’
You just described Mike Evans Joe. Or maybe Mike Evans potential replacement sometime in the future.
July 31st, 2025 at 4:28 am
He made some really nice plays last year. A few were deeper sideline plays in the NO and CR games. He was being used like a WR as I recall and while he only had a few targets, he has an 18 ypp average. Think he has more upside than Otton.
July 31st, 2025 at 4:29 am
He has Tony Gonzalez Legs!
That’s what you want in a TE.
He was trucking people last year when he got into the game.
He’s faster than Pitts who the Falcons wasted a top 10 pick on!
Culp is going to be great!
I can feel it!
July 31st, 2025 at 4:31 am
Josh G will have something just for Culp to take advantage of his size and 4.47 speed, not to mention his athleticism. He will have a big future here.
July 31st, 2025 at 6:15 am
Coen didn’t use the TE’s much so we’ll see how Griz decides to use them. He could be a secret weapon especially if he can improve his blocking.
July 31st, 2025 at 6:28 am
Thought I read that Culp limped off the field. Anything to that ??
July 31st, 2025 at 6:47 am
Dare I say…….what I saw last season in the very limited playing time he got, and then what I’m reading from Joe about his performance in training camp…..could we maybe be seeing a new version of Jimmie Giles?
Hopefully Griz will elevate this dude and give him ample chances to shine and help the team win, despite what his part time boss may or may not think.
July 31st, 2025 at 7:17 am
I am one that believes that Payne can be a real pain, in the red zone. I also agree that the TE room is talented. “Beasts for Baker!”
July 31st, 2025 at 8:18 am
reminds me of Pitts in Atlanta
July 31st, 2025 at 8:19 am
Been banging the drum for Culp all summer.
July 31st, 2025 at 8:28 am
Great comp to Jimmie Giles, that could the case
July 31st, 2025 at 8:29 am
Culp.
Someone on the Bucs should dig into the film vault and have Culp study every play of Jimmie Giles as a Buccaneer. His blocking was ferocious. On a different team, or if Culverhouse weren’t so “1850s Deep South” and kept Doug Williams, who knows, he might have been a hall of famer.
July 31st, 2025 at 9:51 am
@Defensive-Rules Says.
@Famu_Rattler Says: As we have been saying all off season long. Devin Culp is a TE that can be used as a WR in special setups. If he progress is as we hope/expect, he can then be in-training to pickup the slack when ME13 hangs them up. We would have a 1st rounder selected in the 7th round. Culp has to prove in training camp that he can consistently make plays, stop drops on sh/be catches, emphasize attention to blocking and stay injury free.
Players need to be aware that some things can lead to injuries. So attention to self protection needs to part of the training camp emphasis. How to land to prevent knee spring, stretching achilles and hammies, correct shoulder pads to protect/prevent against tendon/joint injury.
Corners and LB’s need to have at least one session a week on tackling angles to prevent strains and concussion. If Bucs take the time to emphasize these things it will go a long way to getting us to the end of the season in a healthy condition.
With all this being said… I am a Devin Culp believer. I only hope that he believes in himself as much as we (Bucs fans) believe in him. I hope that OC has vision of future use of Devin Culp as a WR in the image of ME13. OC with future vision and focused preparation can make this happen.
Deep Playoff run or bust.
Go Bucs….. Go Bucs….
July 31st, 2025 at 12:14 pm
Culp taking the place someday of Mike Evans is a Loony Tunes dream. The dude can barely get on the field and he is similar to ME???
July 31st, 2025 at 1:09 pm
@Bucsfaninoregon I don’t think people are talking about him replacing ME. They are talking about how similar in physical attributes they both are. So in that sense if his route running is good he could fill the same role in the offense as ME.
July 31st, 2025 at 2:20 pm
Every time I hear about a speedy tight end who can make plays downfield, they always eventually disappear. The only exception I can think of is Vernon Turner, who at least had a long NFL career, though nowhere near what the hype was for a 4.2 speed sixth-overall pick tight end drafted by the 49ers.
Hall of Fame-worthy elite tight ends are usually big rangy guys who are geniuses at getting open, like Gronk, Kelce, Tony Gonzalez, and Antonio Gates. None of those guys were fast.
Guys like Kyle Pitts, who was the “Greatest Tight End Prospect Ever” because of his speed, tend to always disappoint.
July 31st, 2025 at 4:05 pm
@BucsfaninOregon Says:
July 31st, 2025 at 12:14 pm
Culp taking the place someday of Mike Evans is a Loony Tunes dream. The dude can barely get on the field and he is similar to ME???
@Famu_Rattler Says:
you are correct Culp is not a Mike Evans. But my statement is he could with the correct preparedness fill that role in the Bucs offense and fill it very nicely. The potential is there he and the Bucs just have to work to get it.
August 1st, 2025 at 4:12 pm
“a crafty play caller should be able to abuse defenses with this underrated group…”
I think Adam from NY made an excellent point. With one of the absolute best passing attacks with so many threats to contain, a good play caller should absolutely be able to dominate between the hashes with these tight ends. I’m very excited to see what happens this year. Baker has a chance to do for this team what Brady did a few years ago.