For all of the depth the Bucs created this offseason through their free agency and draft additions, one position group largely went untouched. Despite having a starter who ranks consistently in the bottom half of the league in Cade Otton and a combined eight catches for 50 yards from all of the players behind him, Tampa Bay made very little moves at the tight end position this year.

Otton’s role as the starter looks extremely safe. The Bucs may be hopeful that his second half of the season is foretelling of his potential in 2024. Otton averaged 35 yards per game from Week 15 through the playoffs. Over a full season that would put him on pace for just shy of 600 yards as the third/fourth target in the offense, which isn’t bad. It was also a 25% increase over his per game production up to that point in the season. But Otton still averaged less than one yard per route run for the entire season and ranked 37th out of 43 qualifying tight ends in that measure.

And given the overall inexperience and lack of production behind Otton it could get scary for the Bucs if he misses any time even if he is a limited piece to begin with. On a recent appearance on the Pirate Parlay Podcast with J.C. Allen, Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen was asked his opinions about the tight end room. His response stressed how critical it is for the team to build depth in that room.

Bucs TE Cade Otton – Photo by: USA Today

“It’s a lot of competition in that room,” Coen said. “You know, the whole room, we need to do ‘this’ (Coen gestures in an upward motion). We need them to keep going this way. The other thing about Cade is he played 98% of the snaps last year. So that is something we need to improve on. We need to get more depth established.

“Guys like Payne [Durham], Tanner [Taula], Devin [Kulp], Ko [Kieft] – all those guys need to step up essentially. Really, that’s what it comes down to. There has to be a lot of growth. There was growth shown this spring. Again, it’s hard to tell without pads. But we need development and growth out of that room for somebody to come in and give us real snaps. And we’re excited about that room developing and competing through the training camp. But it’s definitely a position that needs to step up and for us to go where we want to go as an offense.”

Bucs Tight End Room Was A Weak Spot Last Year

Bucs TE Payne Durham – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Between Cade Otton, Ko Kieft, David Wells and Payne Durham, the Bucs tight ends logged 1,616 offensive snaps. That ranked ninth in the NFL. The Rams (where Liam Coen’s schematic philosophies delineate from) ranked 30th at 1,265 snaps from tight ends. It is safe to assume that the Bucs will de-emphasize 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends, two receivers) packages in favor of more 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end, three receivers). But it is important that the team get more out of the tight end position in general. But that might be a good thing beyond just offensive philosophy.

Here is how the Bucs tight end room ranked in other key metrics:

Catch Rate – 27th

Contested Catch Rate – tied-26th

Drop Rate – 28th

First Down Rate – 23rd

Receptions – 29th

Targets/Route Run – 30th

TD – tied-15th

Yards – 30th

Yards After Catch/Reception – 25th

Yards/Reception – 26th

Yards/Route Run – 31st

Any way you slice it, the Bucs tight end group last year under-performed the league average.

How An Schematic Change May Aid Production

Bucs OC Liam Coen – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Besides just a difference in personnel usage there could be another change coming for Bucs tight ends in 2024. One of the few areas where the team ranked in the top half of the league was average depth of target for the tight end group. Tampa Bay was 11th in the league with a combined ADOT of 7.26. The Rams ranked 26th at 5.78.

In the Sean McVay system one would see more shallow concepts for tight ends like slants, shallow crosses, flats, sticks and shallow outs. This will mean a few less explosives for Cade Otton on seam routes that take opposing defenses by surprise. By simplifying the route tree and reducing the need for speed and athleticism, Liam Coen may be able to turn this group into a more efficient presence within the offense.

Resources are limited in a closed system like the NFL. Teams can rarely improve every facet of their roster in a single offseason. Every decision comes with an opportunity cost. The Bucs did little to improve their tight end room this year outside of drafting Devin Culp in the seventh round, and are instead relying on growth from a young core.

And Coen is publicly letting the players know that he needs a big leap from them this year.