Luxury Addition Pays Off
January 10th, 2021
Back in August or September or October, it was easy to look at the Bucs roster and wonder whey they were paying a third-string tight end a ton of money when they needed help in the secondary.
Cameron Brate, after little use last season, was on the depth chart behind O.J. Howard and Rob Gronkowski.
But general manager Jason Licht had a vision, and it likely included what Bucs fans saw tonight in Washington. Brate rose up, as he had in the second half of the season, to have four catches for 80 yards in Tampa Bay’s 31-23 victory.
Yeah, Brate dropped a touchdown pass, but the night represented his biggest output of this season.
Joe has to tip a cap to the Bucs officials who decided to make Brate their luxury addition to a loaded offense and have him sit behind Howard and Gronk.
It was more than worth it after the big plays Brate had tonight.
And Brate’s night was even further magnified by Chris Godwin getting the dropsies in his first playoff appearance.
A 2014 addition to the Bucs roster along with Mike Evans, Brate joined his old buddy in showing up big.
January 10th, 2021 at 12:13 am
Gotta give Licht some serious props, in terms of some of his insurance plans he got this season:
– Having Gronk, OJ and Brate ended up being a huge necessity
– Signing AB turned out to be hugely needed
Too bad he didn’t bring in a DB, as Davis, SMB and Dean all look worse than ever. I don’t understand it. Maybe Davis is injured, but there is zero excuse of the other two. They were playing better during week 5 than they are now.
January 10th, 2021 at 12:14 am
Never saw this coming…. till a bit in the game and he was TB s guy…..kept waiting for Gronk, but a pleasant surprise to be surprised. CG, get some stick um lol.
January 10th, 2021 at 12:16 am
Him and Evans were players of the game. Evans is a warrior. Brate played amazing.
January 10th, 2021 at 12:19 am
CG got hit with the broadcasters jinx. “Brady says Godwin’s hands are the greatest he’s ever played with” ….[5 minutes later]… “Wow Tony that was Godwin’s 17th drop in a row”
He’ll be fine next week!
January 10th, 2021 at 12:19 am
Really happy to see Brate have a big game. With Gronk being the extra lineman tonight Brate was able to sneak out and have a big game to help the Bucs win. Brate is a good security blanket for Brady. Heck of a job tonight and deserves a little bit of the spotlight.
January 10th, 2021 at 12:22 am
ONLY TWO WINS AWAY!
2 wins away from a return to the Super Bowl!
This is all we could ask for. A chance.
Our D has major weaknesses but you never know. A few stops here and there and our high powered Offense scoring enough and we can beat anyone.
January 10th, 2021 at 12:24 am
LoL. 17th drop in a row….
Godwin is great. I fully expect him to step up and have a big game next week. Especially if they are home against the Rams and Ramsey is on Evans all day
January 10th, 2021 at 12:27 am
Licht keeping Brate was a smart move….
Great job…
GO BUCS
January 10th, 2021 at 12:29 am
I feel like this was part of the game plan going in. To have Gronk stay in to pass block against WFT’s tough D-line while letting Brate run routes on some key downs.
January 10th, 2021 at 12:37 am
I agree Weebs. Godwin will get it right. Glad it didn’t cost us tonight.
January 10th, 2021 at 12:39 am
What can we get for OJ at this point?
January 10th, 2021 at 12:41 am
Probably a glass of OJ.
January 10th, 2021 at 12:47 am
Brate is far superior than OJ Howard. We didn’t need Howard.
Could you imagine this team WITH DALVIN COOK????
January 10th, 2021 at 12:54 am
Brate was solid!
January 10th, 2021 at 12:58 am
Speaking of luxury seems like antonio brown can get his whenever he wants . Hopefully they unleash him next 3 weeks .
January 10th, 2021 at 1:43 am
“Brate is far superior than OJ Howard.”
LOL!
January 10th, 2021 at 2:01 am
LOL…O.J. Looked like he was everything that was hyped and promised once he was used properly. Brate is nice no doubt but O.J. is way more dangerous.
January 10th, 2021 at 2:33 am
Grate has always had better hands than OJ. He and Godwin have been our most dependable receivers. I remember the year Grate had the injury issues. He tougher it out and still caught the ball at a high rate. The coaches didn’t make good use of either player at times. I’m still waiting to see OJ make an impact for the team. I expected more from him.
January 10th, 2021 at 3:01 am
1sparkybuc – Brate does have better hands, but also is a lot worse at blocking and getting open. Also Brate lost us the game last year against Houston with his huge wide open 4th down drop with 3 mins left at the Houston 30 – so his ‘sure’ hands generally don’t come through in the clutch. Brate is nice to have, and as a 2nd and 3rd TE he’s great, but as a starter he’d bring the offense to halt.
I’m not sure if Gronk will be back next year or not, at this point I assume he won’t, in that case OJ will be the clear starter and Brate should be a nice #2, but he might need to redo his deal as I’m not sure he’s going to get $6m.
January 10th, 2021 at 7:06 am
Brate was in game plan, too many weapons. Good hands but I’ll take OJ anyway. Bucs def made kid look like Aaron Roger’s. Can we all chip in for a limo and drive Bowles to Atlanta? Thanks God for Brady he threw bullets and protected the ball. Too many dropped balls score should of been in 40’s. Smith & Gronk made Young look like the rookie he is, never got close to Brady. Gotta straighten Def out or next week last game of the year and that’s NOT what Brady is playing for. Receivers PO gitters.
January 10th, 2021 at 7:54 am
If you can’t pressure with your front, you don’t have much of a chance as a DB. Rewatch the game, there were times the coverage was great he had no where to throw, but with no rush, he could wait for a receiver to run clear. I’m not as down on the DBs as I am the pass rush. When there was pressure we let the lil 3rd string guy get out and run (he played a smart game)
January 10th, 2021 at 8:28 am
^^^ rrsq, you make a good point. There were many plays that it seems TWF had all day to scan the field.
January 10th, 2021 at 8:51 am
You guys talking-up OJ over Brate are funny. Take a look at their careers! Shake my head. OJ-talk is merely “potential”-talk nonsense. Brate has been doing this for years; OJ has done it for seven plays.
January 10th, 2021 at 9:59 am
Brate is nearly 30, not a blocking type guy. OJ was looking all-world when his achilles went, and there’s every chance it won’t be healed by the end of training camp
January 10th, 2021 at 10:09 am
I remember the JB braintrust saying he wasn’t needed and would be a cap casualty and AB would I’m plode the team. Sheesh things sure don’t age well except for Tom brady
January 10th, 2021 at 10:52 am
Brate really should be Brady’s favorite receiver. He runs great routes and has tremendous hands. But most importantly he runs those routes consistently.
January 10th, 2021 at 11:54 am
For one of Licht’s UFA signings, Cameron Brate has delivered. Luxury? More like necessity.