Is Buccaneers Tight End Cade Otton the Savior Of the Season?

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. many thought the offense would fall a part. Not only hasn't that happened, the offense has still avergaed 24 points over the last two contests and kept up with the Chiefs and Falcons in back to back weeks. The reason? Third-year tight end Cade Otton is a big part of it.

Without the dynamic duo of Evans and Godwin, the Bucs have had to rely on Otton as their primary receiving target and he's stepped up big time. Over the last three games, he's racked up 25 receptions on 31 targets for 258 yards and three touchdowns. All three of his touchdowns have come in the past two weeks with a pair of them against the Falcons. With his production over the last three games, he has the second-longest streak of games by a tight end with 8 or more receptions and 75 or more receiving yards in NFL history, trailing only Travis Kelce's six-game streak.

Otton has received praise from his coaches and teammates for his play over the last few weeks, with the latest coming from his offensive coordinator Liam Coen. Coen had high remarks for Otton, calling him a football player in the best of ways and saying he would love for his son to become the kind of man he is.

"He’s got a knack for the game – he just knows the game," Coen said. "He has a great feel. So many of those guys would just say that he’s a football player. That's Cade and you can’t say that about everybody. He just has that ability. Sometimes people look at that as a knock – maybe they’re not as fast or as quick or as strong or can jump as high. Being a football player is a darn good thing and that’s what he is. He's tough as nails, he’s smart as heck, and I’d love for my son to grow up to be Cade Otton. That’s the kind of guy that he is.”

Unfortunately, Godwin is out for the season, but the Bucs expect to get Evans back after the bye week. However, that doesn't mean Otton's role will change according to Coen.

“He’s out there every time," Coen said. "We try to get him a blow, but we’re also designing, getting him involved a lot more. It’s a great thing for him, for me, for our offense to know that we’ve got another guy we can rely on to make plays. He’s gaining a ton of confidence. I don’t know where he stands with his career and where he’s been at in normal years – I don’t know – but I have to believe he’s probably feeling pretty good about where he’s at right now and the way he’s playing.”

Otton has rarely come out of the game — in fact, he's played an average of 91% of the snaps of each game this season with two games he didn't come out at all. being out there as much as he's been has formed a stong connection between him and quarterback Baker Mayfield. The veteran QB has full trust in Otton to get the job done whatever his role may be on any given play.

“It’s all Cade," Mayfield said. "[He’s] a special player that [is] so smart, he knows where to be, he knows exactly what we’re trying to get done within whatever scheme we’re calling, run or pass, and he understands everything. Then you add in the physical traits that he has and he’s able to showcase those in the last few weeks and that’s an all-around player that we have.”

While some players may lament in the uptick of production and stats that comes with Otton isn't satisfied as the numbers he's put up the last three weeks haven't turned into "Ws" in the win column. For Otton, that's all he cares about.

"I don’t [track them] too much, and I know my production has been up the past few weeks," Otton said. "But the biggest thing I go back to is the win-loss column, and I'm definitely not satisfied with where we’ve been the last three weeks. Like I said, we’re going to do anything we can to change that around. If my production goes down and we win, I’ll be much happier."