The Bucs And Josh Oliver
February 27th, 2023
However the Buccaneers’ messy salary cap situation plays out, they’re going to need affordable upgrades at tight end.
Cameron Brate appears washed out. It was a great nine seasons for an undrafted tight end out of Harvard. Well done. Kyle Rudolph was a free agent bust last season and won’t be re-signed. So that leaves Cade Otton, who showed promise as a pass catcher, and Ko Kieft, both rookies last season.
Kieft looks more like a special teams player who can play a little fullback and catch an occasional pass. Perhaps he’s a career No. 3 tight end and a damn good one. Otton might become a complete tight end, blocking and passing, but that’s a question mark.
Todd Bowles and new offensive coordinator Dave Canales want to run, run, run the ball. So Joe is speculating they make a play for a young blocking tight end in free agency. It’s an inexpensive way to upgrade your run game, and perhaps they can find a guy with a bit of an unexplored ceiling.
Joe thinks Ravens pending free agent Josh Oliver could be that guy.
He got a lot of praise at different points last season from head coach John Harbaugh. If you get a stamp of approval in the Ravens’ trenches, then that goes a long way in Joe’s book.
Oliver was drafted in the sixth round by Jacksonville in 2019. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent in two weeks just before he turns 26. Baltimore traded a seventh-round pick for him before the 2021 season. He’s coming off his best season, featuring improved blocking and a career high 14 catches for 149 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Oliver isn’t a sexy free agent, but he is the kind of guy — and low salary — the Bucs could be targeting.
February 27th, 2023 at 7:25 pm
I think TE should be at the very bottom of the to-do list for the Bucs. I think Otton showed more than enough as a pass catcher to make him your starter, and Ko is your classic blocking TE.
But you need three TE’s, and if you get another one on the cheap, and it’s someone with upside, then go for it.
Personally I’d just resign Tanner Hudson. He’s basically Cameron Brate, just cheaper.
February 27th, 2023 at 7:39 pm
I disagree with you Rod Munch. Otton’s ceiling is a #2 TE. He’s a less expensive Cam Brate. Bucs need to stock up on 2nd and 3rd round picks so they can draft a TE. Mayer or Musgrave would be very good #1 TE picks.
Trade Devin White for a 2nd and 3rd. Trade the #19 pick for a later first rd pick (OLB or DE) and a 2nd or 3rd round pick. That would provide five day 2 picks for a TE, ILB, QB (Hooker), CB and DT. If you can Trade Russell Gage, get a 3rd or 4th rd pick and draft his replacement.
February 27th, 2023 at 7:46 pm
Washington out of Georgia could be a good option for us and shouldn’t cost more than a mid round pick.
This did make me go back and look at what Rob Gronkowski’s draft profile looked like and just to show how far off the draft experts are sometimes – they didn’t give him a grade and the only comment on Gronk was that he needed time in a developmental league (this is on the NFL.com draft profile)
February 27th, 2023 at 7:49 pm
@Bucs Guy the only thing I disagree with is trading Gage because you are trading him for an unknown and so the draft pick you get for him is going straight back to replacing him. With White at least the hope is that you replace him with two players.
February 27th, 2023 at 7:55 pm
Seriously Joe? There are a ton of FA TEs out there, but Oliver doesn’t strike me as being anything special. He’s tall (6’5″) but somewhat light at 249 lbs for a TE (hey, Brate’s 6’5″ & 245 lbs and the hit on him was that he couldn’t block). We need a monster like Gronk (6’6″ & 265 lbs).
Oliver’s receiving stats are quite underwhelming.
o 2019 (Jacksonville): 6 targets, 3 catches (50%), 0 TD.
o 2021 (Baltimore): 15 targets, 9 catches (60%), 0 TD.
o 2022 (Baltimore): 25 targets, 14 catches (56%), 2 TDs.
Given that he was on the field for 514 offensive snaps last year, those aren’t vey impressive numbers. There are 34 Unrestricted FAs on the market, but most of them weren’t really used all that much & would probably be low cost. One that we might look into though is Hayden Hurst from the Bengals (6’4″, 260 lbs, 29 yrs old). Was targeted 68 times last year, caught 52 of them (76.5%) for 414 yds & 2 TDs. Go back 2 years though to 2020 when he was with Atlanta and he had 571 yds & 6 TDs. Spotrac lists him with a $6.8 mil Market Value.
February 27th, 2023 at 7:57 pm
I am with Munch. TE way down list of needs.
February 27th, 2023 at 8:01 pm
I say we repeat last year’s draft strategy….(better picks though)
Trade down to the top of the 2nd…LT Jaelyn Duncan
Somehow have the first pick of the 3rd…TE Darnell Washington
Next 3rd…QB Hendon Hooker (and let him heal and slowly bring him on)
4th (with one of the trades, hopefully near the top) CB…Mekhi Garner
And somewhere with the next pick, find a fg kicker who can kick past 50 yards…
If we can land this, and I think its doable, this will be an awesome draft…
February 27th, 2023 at 8:25 pm
The Seattle Wide Zone offense that they have ran forever and that Canales will be running here has always utilized multiple TE sets.
TE’s also catch a good amount of passes in that scheme.
Bucs will have to sign or draft probably 2 more
February 27th, 2023 at 8:36 pm
^ Yeah, Canales pointed it out in his presser…. thats when i changed to TE with a higher pick than I wanted. And if Hooker isnt there later in the 3rd, I hope we go RB Zach Evans.
February 27th, 2023 at 8:36 pm
Let’s see. What was the single most glaring absence on the offense last year? Sure, a running game would’ve been nice, but even bigger than that. That’s right, it was the TE Rob Gronkowski.
Now, argue a skill player not named Gronk was a bigger hole. You can’t. He blocked, he caught, he was reliable.
TE is not to be overlooked.
February 27th, 2023 at 8:37 pm
Why would he play for the Bucs? Plenty of better options .
February 27th, 2023 at 8:39 pm
People saying TE way down on the list of needs aren’t really dealing in reality. We have 2 TEs, so we need at least 1 that can play, not just a warm body. Probably 2 since the scheme Canales is bring uses TEs quite a bit. Need to find a big body for the running game who can also catch a little bit. Unless Otton beefs up this offseason and works on his blocking, we have a significant need if they wanna run the offense the way it’s designed.
February 27th, 2023 at 9:07 pm
Jordan Akins TE texans..free agent ,,somewhat athletic
February 27th, 2023 at 9:11 pm
Michael Myers, Dalton Kincaid, and Luke Musgrave would all be upgrades for us potentially so I would be happy with drafting any one of them.
February 27th, 2023 at 9:40 pm
TE is one of their lowest needs on this team. Any UDFA will be fine for TE3 with the shopping list they gave for starters and second stringers being literally 25 people. Calm down about TE3 in February.
February 27th, 2023 at 9:57 pm
Otton is a contributor, but he not a #1 TE. They need a much more powerful #1 to replace Gronkowski, who is better at both receiving and especially blocking. There are many ways to get that in place. Brate is indeed washed, and Kieft, while surprising, has a limited ceiling.
February 27th, 2023 at 10:28 pm
Bucsfanman,
I agree. Gronk was a generational talent, in some ways like Brady except for longevity. Like I posted a day or so ago, when Gronk was absent, the team lacked a killer instinct, like the first 2 TD’s in the Bucs-Chief Superbowl.
Now THAT was an identity, that 2020 Bucs.
February 27th, 2023 at 10:33 pm
Mort, we’re talking TE 1, not 3….Otton is great for a 2…Keift our 3
February 27th, 2023 at 10:54 pm
Luke Musgrave is someone to watch in this draft. Mayer is name everyone talks about but I think Musgrave might be one of steals of the draft.
February 27th, 2023 at 10:56 pm
I don’t think we should draft a TE with our #1 we should trade down in the 1st and grab two 2nd rd picks and use one on D.Washington, he is hands down enormous and strong, no one will want to go up against him let alone want to tackle him. I also say we try to draft the Texas running back B.Robinson in the second. If of course they’re both not gone.
February 27th, 2023 at 11:11 pm
Any new tight end will be a scrub playing on a late round rookie contract or vet minimum. Can’t afford any luxuries at that position.
February 27th, 2023 at 11:21 pm
Maybe we milk one more year out of Brate.
February 27th, 2023 at 11:37 pm
Todd bowels ruined our exciting passing offense !!!!!! 😩😩😩😩 now we’re back to being a boring, painful to watch running football team
February 28th, 2023 at 12:27 am
Why? There are way more pressing issues on O line, D line, WR, LB, & DB.
Are they giving up on Ko and Otton already?
February 28th, 2023 at 2:11 pm
Last year Seattle had Fant and a bunch of no names at tight end. I am not worried we can find someone on the cheap in free agency. Wouldn’t invest a lot of capital given our bigger needs
February 28th, 2023 at 3:55 pm
Bucs Guy Says:
February 27th, 2023 at 7:39 pm
I disagree with you Rod Munch. Otton’s ceiling is a #2 TE. He’s a less expensive Cam Brate.
———-
Rookie TE’s really do anything, and Otton did something. No idea why you’d be saying he tops out as a #2. The kid was a 3rd round pick, has all the measurables, and had, by rookie TE standards, a good rookie year.
Maybe he doesn’t pan out, but I haven’t seen anything yet that makes me think this is a position of need. The Bucs spent two draft picks on TE last draft, and it would be asking a lot to turn around and draft yet another one highly. This team has a ton of holes, but TE isn’t really one of them, at least not at the moment.
To me a #3 or #4 WR is a much bigger need, another OT is a huge need, you need defensive lineman, you got zero depth at LB and you need to replace most of your secondary depth chart.
March 1st, 2023 at 9:56 pm
Otten showed some great signs in his rookie year, especially considering how poorly run the offense was and how he was basically never schemed open.