What Is Cade Otton’s Personal Goal For 2024?

After a game-winning touchdown in a crucial NFC South matchup at Atlanta in December, Otton was the Bucs’ leading receiver in a Wild Card win over the Eagles with eight catches for 89 yards and caught a touchdown in the Divisional Round loss to the Lions.

He also should’ve had another game-winner to his name earlier in the season after he caught a 14-yard touchdown with 46 seconds left against the Texans, but the Tampa Bay defense collapsed and improbably lost the game. That kept Otton from another clutch game-winner in the process.

As he begins year three as a Buccaneer, Otton is firmly entrenched as the elder statesman of the tight end room. It happened fast, but he went from being a rookie in a room with Cameron Brate and Kyle Rudolph to becoming a soon-to-be father and leading a 2024 tight end group that includes fellow third-year pro Ko Kieft, second-year pro Payne Durham and rookie Devin Culp — who, like Otton, hails from the University of Washington.

So, as Cade Otton sets out to lead the Bucs tight ends in 2024, he’ll also be looking to continue his own development as an NFL tight end. The clutch factor has been one of the 25-year-old tight end’s strong suits in his first two years, but he’ll be looking to capture some consistency as a pass-catcher and reliability as a blocker.

And he certainly wasn’t shy about his personal goal for 2024 when asked about it earlier this week.

Cade Otton Has Pro Bowl Aspirations Heading Into 2024

Only two Bucs tight ends have ever been named to the Pro Bowl: Jimmie Giles from 1980-1982 and 1985, as well as Dave Moore in 2006 – albeit that was for Moore’s role as a long snapper. Cade Otton has designs on joining them and being the third Tampa Bay tight end to achieve the honor.

“I want to be in the Pro Bowl,” Otton said. “Obviously, a lot of receiving stats go into that, but I want to be a great blocker, too. That doesn’t always get recognized by the media or anything like that, but amongst our team, be known as someone they can count on to run behind or take care of guys on the backside of our runs. It’s kind of hard to quantify those things, but just building trust in our offense for blocking.”

Otton’s 42 catches as a rookie were the second-most by a rookie tight end in Bucs history, then he upped his receiving stats in his second season with Tampa Bay. He posted 47 catches for 455 yards (9.7 avg.) and four touchdowns in the regular season, then caught 13 of his 19 targets for 154 yards (11.8 avg.) and a touchdown in the playoffs.

That playoff pace is perhaps unsustainable in an offense built around Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and even Rachaad White. But if Otton puts up consistent numbers over the course of a full season, he may find his name in the mix among the more productive tight ends in the NFC.

What’s working against Otton is the lack of name recognition and the market he plays in. Last year’s Pro Bowl tight ends were, rightfully, George Kittle of the 49ers and rookie Sam LaPorta of the Lions. When Kittle went to the Super Bowl with San Francisco, Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson replaced him.

Kittle is a five-time Pro Bowler and has been one of the league’s top tight ends for the duration of his career. LaPorta was one of the league’s top rookies and was a contributor for a team that was one of the league’s best stories. And Ferguson plays for the Dallas Cowboys (though he also did have a strong 71-catch, 761-yard season, too).

It might take quite the season and a new level of production for Cade Otton to make the Pro Bowl. But that doesn’t mean that shouldn’t be his goal. If he continues to improve in the passing game as a blocker, that’ll help his case and it’ll help the Bucs win games.

And as much as he might want the Pro Bowl nod personally, winning is the ultimate goal and you can bet that he’d trade the individual honor for a Lombardi Trophy and accompanying Super Bowl ring.