Blocking And Catching
April 30th, 2022
Washington TE Cade Otton.
Bucs fans wanted one and now they have one. A big tight end.
Washington’s Cade Otton is a big fella. He’s 6-5, 247 pounds. A guy that can catch and block.
Dane Brugler of The Athletic has Otton as his fourth-best tight end in the draft.
SUMMARY: A four-year starter at Washington, Otton spent the majority of his time inline with his hand on the ground in former offensive coordinator John Donovan’s pro-style scheme. After a productive sophomore year under Chris Petersen, he was criminally underutilized the last two years, averaging only 8.9 yards per catch as a senior (only 46.4% of his receptions resulted in a first down or touchdown). The grandson of the all-time winningest high school head coach in the state of Washington, Otton is stout and athletic in the passing game as both a route-runner and blocker and he is physical to the football with the hand strength to sustain catches through contact. He is comfortable doing the dirty work, but too often he clutches with his hands while his stagnant feet attempt to catch up. Overall, Otton lacks dynamic traits before or after the catch, but he is a catch-point finisher, nuanced route-runner, and he takes his blocking responsibilities seriously. He projects as a prototypical Y tight end in the NFL.
Brugler had projected Otton to be a third-round draft pick. So he was just about right. The Bucs made him the very first pick of Round 4.
Joe likes that Otton can block. Right now the only blocking tight end is foot-rubbing, beach-partying Rob Gronkowski who just happens to be a serious weapon in the passing game as well.
April 30th, 2022 at 12:29 pm
TE’s tend to take a few years to develop. This is a good long-term pick. Will develop chemistry with Trask.
April 30th, 2022 at 12:30 pm
Love it!
April 30th, 2022 at 12:33 pm
Whether Gronk comes back or not, we still needed to fill OJ’s role. Solid player. We’ll see how he progresses with the excellent coaching/tutelage from the Bucs coaches and other players.
April 30th, 2022 at 12:33 pm
Love this pick
April 30th, 2022 at 12:35 pm
Bucs currently only has 2 TEs on the roster. This was a good pick, even if Gronk comes back,
April 30th, 2022 at 12:37 pm
Yay! Another toy for Tommy! Tom loves his tight ends and will feed this guy.
April 30th, 2022 at 12:39 pm
They seem to be fillig out their practice squad nicely.
April 30th, 2022 at 12:42 pm
Every time we draft a UW guy, I rely on my two nephews who live out there and watch Husky Football closely. I am told Otton is “legit” and he is a “great pass catcher” and “decent blocker.”
April 30th, 2022 at 12:42 pm
Definitely a guy that’s going to play in rotation solid pick and pick that fills a need
April 30th, 2022 at 12:44 pm
Hmmm… We ever take a tight end from Washington before? Seem to have a vague recollection about that.
April 30th, 2022 at 12:46 pm
He’s no ASJ! Otton looks like he’ll be a good, complete TE for Tommy.
April 30th, 2022 at 12:49 pm
Looks good. I’m happy with the players we got this draft, trenches and playmakers. We need a return guy tho
April 30th, 2022 at 12:54 pm
He’s a 4 year starter which is extremely good experience for a college player nowadays, along with coming from Washington Huskies. They have been know to turn out some stout NFL players occasionally. This kid could develop into the star that we had all hoped OJ Howard would be. I’m willing to give him a chance. I think that he will be on active roster this year and will start a few games.
April 30th, 2022 at 12:59 pm
his nickname should be “cotton” 🙂
i like the pick
April 30th, 2022 at 1:00 pm
Hope he works out. Weak TE draft so waiting until rd 4 was the way to go
April 30th, 2022 at 1:02 pm
Don’t expect much from him Year 1. TEs tend to not produce much their first year.
April 30th, 2022 at 1:04 pm
Punter
April 30th, 2022 at 1:06 pm
Already looks better than Howard
April 30th, 2022 at 1:08 pm
It’ll be interesting to see if Gronk comes back if he’ll give up #87 to this stud in the making…
April 30th, 2022 at 1:11 pm
good film …. i think we need DT more
April 30th, 2022 at 1:13 pm
Good pick lots of potential here with some coaching up
April 30th, 2022 at 1:15 pm
I’m glad the Bucs are filling out their practice squad with all these picks 😳 what a joke and I bet they grab a kicker and water boy next !! Go Bucs
April 30th, 2022 at 1:22 pm
From what I’ve read elsewhere, from sites I respect, they say he’s a mainly a blocker, has a hard time getting separation in the pass game, but does catch everything thrown to him. BUT, he’s mainly a blocker and a good one.
To me, that’s perfect. Easier to teach someone an NFL route tree than to teach them out to block.
Also if he can block, the Bucs could, at least on rushing plays, use him instead of Gronk to try to save wear and tear on him. That would be one of the selling points I’d give Gronk. Hard to trust a rookie blocking at TE in the passing game, but if his college blocking translates to the pros, he might be able to do that early, again giving Gronk some plays off.
April 30th, 2022 at 1:36 pm
Gronk will need a few games off.
LVD will need a few games off too.
On the off chance JPP comes mack he’ll need rest too, but I think he’s gone.
April 30th, 2022 at 1:52 pm
If and when Gronk returns, he can’t be your only blocking TE. That wears on him as much, if not more than catching. This pick is interesting. It may portend more two TE sets. Don’t forget Mason is an absolute road grater, and a clear upgrade over cappa. It was the lack of run commitment that caused the offense to sputter against the Rams in both losses. Brady is always at his best when throwing play action. A powerful running game, and commitment to it, makes Brady nearly impossible to stop.
April 30th, 2022 at 2:54 pm
Bucs’ Super Bowl hopes seem to hinge on 3 things now: (1) re-signing Ndamukong Suh; (2) keeping literally EVERYONE on defense healthy because we have inadequate depth there; and (3) scoring a LOT of points to compensate for our defense surrendering a LOT of points.
Going almost exclusively offense in the draft may sound enticing, but it may end up being the proverbial kick in the nuts this year, especially if injuries start piling up. And it certainly sticks us behind the 8-ball for future years when players like Suh & LVD move on, and we haven’t trained their replacements.
April 30th, 2022 at 3:05 pm
And BTW, Otton might be tall (6’5″) but a 247 lb TE really isn’t all that beefy. He’s almost the identical size to Cam Brate (6’5″ & 245 lbs) … who everyone keeps saying can’t block … and is almost 20 lbs lighter than Gronk (6’6″ & 265 lbs) … who we know is a beast.
Actually I’m a lot more excited about our biggest TE prospect in this draft, Luke Goedeke. A 312 lb blocking TE sounds like someone to be feared. And especially since he comes with TE experience.
April 30th, 2022 at 4:34 pm
Like what we are doing, good luck to all the the future Bucs! Seriously I want the all to pan out!
April 30th, 2022 at 9:59 pm
Those were big time blocks on the Number 2 pick Hutchinson!