“Coach, Can I Go In?”
August 4th, 2024
He wears Gronk’s number but he hasn’t gotten Gronk’s playing time.
Then-rookie tight end Payne Durham mostly was a spectator last season as tight end Cade Otton played more snaps than Joe’s ever seen from a starter. He logged 97 percent of plays during the regular season and the same percentage in the playoffs.
“I used to look out there, ‘Sorry Cade. Coach, can I go in?'” Durham playfully said yesterday after practice.
The Bucs want Durham on the field more. He made a couple of great catches in very limited action last season and Otton, coaches have acknowledged, needs more breaks.
Durham, 24, said he feels great about his transformed body, which he said was “not that much of a weight swing, just a composition swing.”
He’s an obviously leaner 6-6, 260 pounds this summer.
“I like where I’m at. I like the strides that I made this offseason. I feel faster. I feel stronger,” Durham said.
The 2023 fifth-round pick also said his bond with Baker Mayfield has intensified and he thinks that mattters on the field.
“We immediately started working [after Mayfield re-signed] and hanging out off the field, which I think is huge,” Durham said.
Joe is so hoping Durham can prove to be a weapon — and a decent blocker. The Bucs are desperate for depth at tight end.
Payne Durham makes a tough catch in traffic 😤
📺: #TBvsIND on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/1dOevJjoZZ pic.twitter.com/qgBdB3qg2x— NFL (@NFL) November 26, 2023
August 4th, 2024 at 11:09 am
I still feel like that was a TD
August 4th, 2024 at 11:42 am
It is necessary to have two quality tight ends and then depth behind them. Having Payne take snaps away from COtton* will help make Cade more effective when he is in.
Ko Kieft is a LTD TE. My hope is David Wells and rookie Devin ‘Curly’ Culp will make the team to round out the TE room.
*COtton. Get it? Cade Otton, C. Otton or Cotton. Okay. That’s just plain being silly.
August 4th, 2024 at 11:56 am
I think this guy is our most promising TE- makes sick catches. He should be developed as our #1 TE or it is yet another total development failure by the Buccaneers.
August 4th, 2024 at 12:00 pm
Pryda, it wasn’t but I feel the the same as where I want every close call to be in our favor. Go Bucs LFG
August 4th, 2024 at 12:31 pm
CleanHouse Says:
August 4th, 2024 at 11:56 am
I think this guy is our most promising TE- makes sick catches. He should be developed as our #1 TE or it is yet another total development failure by the Buccaneers.
————————
That’s a bit harsh and a reach. He’s a late round pick. Hall of fame or bust on everyone huh? Geez, yet a typical take cleanhouse.
August 4th, 2024 at 12:37 pm
CleanHouse, the kid we just drafted is probably the most promising TE. However, I do agree that Pyane has the potential to be one of those TE that when you look at the stat sheet in 15 years. Everyone is gonna be like, oh this guy was really good. Think LVD#54
August 4th, 2024 at 1:08 pm
Interesting that Durham mentioned he ‘feels great about his transformed body’. I’m sure Cody Mauch feels the same about his. Ya Ya Diaby pretty much said the same. Come to think of it, most rookies probably undergo a significant ‘transformation’ physically between Year 1 and Year 2. Sounds like the Bucs’ coaches should get a few kudos for helping the youngsters set goals and achieve them.
August 4th, 2024 at 1:13 pm
Wisecrack … ‘the kid we just drafted is probably the most promising TE.’
I have no idea why, but I’m seeing Devin Culp (6’4″ & 237 lbs) as a very big WR (think Mike Evans … 6’5″ & 231 lbs) as opposed to a TE. It’ll be really interesting to see how the Bucs use him this year.
August 4th, 2024 at 1:20 pm
Defense Rules,
Would not be surprised if Culp basically gets a Red Shirt this year. No reason to rush him along.
I can see him developing into everything we hoped and dreamed OJ Howard to be. Not sure he will be a WR. You of all people should know that the Route Tree are no joke, and timing is what makes for a special WR.
I can see him splitting out, but his bread and butter is simple routes like Gronk, then DOMINATING after the catch.
Regardless, we have a super diverse TE room and that is way cool to see, along with the rest of this team that is looking great. Just wish we had a true Franchise QB to supplement it all.
Baker might be that guy but to me he is stile JW#3 (on the field). I want Mayfield to succeed but Im not sold on his ON THE FIELD skills.
August 4th, 2024 at 2:55 pm
He better than Otten.
August 4th, 2024 at 3:58 pm
Joe, Bowles brought in Justin Peele to improve the TE blocking. I’d be curious to hear how Bowles sees the TE blocking in camp so far. In Bowles eyes, which TE has stepped up this year?
August 4th, 2024 at 4:12 pm
For anyone that never watched his college highlights, you should check them out, just to see how incredibly different he looks depending on his age. In his younger highlights, he looks like a WR – and catches and moves like one. Then, in the season before he was drafted, he looked like he went through a major growth spurt, and just looked sluggish – like a lumbering giant. I don’t know what his measurements were, but he literally looks inches taller and probably 50 pounds heavier, it’s a dramatic difference. Frankly, watching his highlights, I was shocked he got drafted at all. But you can see what Licht liked, his younger tape showed a guy who can catch the ball and move – and if you can get him slimed down a bit to get back some of that speed and quickness, you might have something, at the very least a TE with very good hands.
Good to see he’s slimmed down, and Joe noted he looks a bit faster this year. Hopefully he can keep it up.
August 4th, 2024 at 4:18 pm
Call Gronk.
Make him the highest paid TE in league.
And let’s win another Super Bowl!
Give Gronk the chance to prove he can win a Super Bowl without Tom Brady.
Gronk is the missing piece right now.
TE 1- Gronk
TE 2- Otton
TE 3- Durham
TE 4- Culp or Keift
I would prefer to put Culp on the practice squad for 2 seasons.
August 4th, 2024 at 4:25 pm
I’ve always liked Otton, Durham will push for top TE. He may have more upside,
August 4th, 2024 at 4:45 pm
Biff Barker – I don’t think Durham is going to push Otton – and I know Joe said the same thing, that Otton is by far the clear #1. I have no idea why people are down on Otton, he’s been a solid starting TE. The team can’t have stars at every position, they literally couldn’t afford it, and sometimes you just need solid pros to fill in the roster, and Otton has been that so far. Additionally, he’s still young, and TEs generally take a while to develop, and Otton can still improve.
Durham, he’s got to work on speed and quickness in my opinion. He was so sluggish looking, that even if he is faster this year, it’s still not going to get him open vs NFL LBs and certainly not safeties. But again, his college tape shows when he was younger he had great hands, and at that size, that’s something to build on. Who knows with him, but I think he’s just looking to lockdown the #2 job at this point.
August 4th, 2024 at 4:48 pm
teacherman1983 Says:
Call Gronk.
I would prefer to put Culp on the practice squad for 2 seasons.
———
Gronk would take months to get back into shape, and I can’t see him coming out of retirement to play with Baker. I don’t see him returning to football at this point.
On Culp, if he can’t catch, that will be an issue. But he does bring something to the table, and that is WR speed at TE. He’s very much a lottery ticket, and likely will end up on the practice squad unless he has a breakout season. Ko is more of the blocking specialist, so I assume he’ll make the roster, even if it means carrying 4 if Clup did have a breakout.
August 4th, 2024 at 5:31 pm
Robbed
August 4th, 2024 at 5:34 pm
Jack Burton Mercer
Yeah, that endzone view proves it too!!!
Robbed
August 4th, 2024 at 9:26 pm
Durham can develop into a chain moving, redzone threat and I hope to hell he can play a part in bumping up our redzone numbers. We need all the help we can get in improving on that front.