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Cade Otton is the unquestioned tight end on Tampa Bay's depth chart, and his snap rate confirms it: he played 93.2% of the offense's snaps in 2025 and has stayed right there at 93.4% through two games in 2026. That is not a rotational number. It is the number of a player the coaching staff trusts on every down, in every personnel grouping, regardless of score or situation. The target volume follows from that role rather than defining it — 81 targets across sixteen games last season, and eleven already through two games this year, produced 59 and eight receptions respectively, catch rates of 72.8% and 72.7% that tell the same story: when Otto is thrown to, the ball tends to arrive. Baker Mayfield, in his eighth season and entrenched as the starter, treats Otton as a rhythm target rather than an explosive one — the 9.7 yards per reception mark in 2025 and 8 yards per reception mark so far in 2026 both point to a possession profile, not a downfield one. With Emeka Egbuka now occupying the top receiver spot and Chris Godwin Jr. holding down the second outside role, Otton's targets are the underneath, high-floor variety that keep him on the field but rarely turn into long gains.
The case for Cade Otton starts with certainty of role. A tight end who plays 93.2% of his team's snaps and sits at 93.4% again this year is not competing for playing time — he is the answer at the position, full stop. That gives him a weekly opportunity most backups at the position never sniff, and the 81 targets he drew in 2025 show that Baker Mayfield looks his way often enough to sustain a real workload. In an offense where Emeka Egbuka is the primary outside threat and Chris Godwin Jr. commands a portion of the remaining looks, Otton fills the space underneath — the checkdown and chain-mover a quarterback leans on when the first read is not there. That role does not disappear based on matchup or game script; a player who is on the field for nearly every snap keeps his volume even in games where the offense sputters. The case against him is built on what that volume actually produces. One receiving touchdown across sixteen games in 2025 is a red-zone number that cannot support a claim to weekly upside, and only five red-zone targets across the whole season backs it up — Tampa Bay simply is not looking for him near the goal line. The 9.7 yards per reception average in 2025 and 8 yards per reception mark through two games in 2026 both sit at the low end for the position leaguewide; this is a receiver who catches a lot of short passes rather than a few long ones, and without touchdowns to inflate the box score, that profile caps out modestly. His overall finish of twenty-second among all players at his position in PPR points last season, and twenty-third early in 2026, reflect exactly that: solid, unspectacular floor with almost no ceiling. Bucky Irving's role as the lead back and Kenny Gainwell's complementary work behind him mean the running game absorbs a chunk of the short-yardage and red-zone opportunity that might otherwise funnel toward Otton near the goal line, reinforcing why his touchdown output stays thin even as his overall target share holds steady. The honest read is that Otton offers a floor built on volume and target security, propped up by Mayfield's tendency to find him, but he lacks the explosive plays or scoring chances that separate a difference-making tight end from a steady one. His weekly points per game figures — 7.6 in 2025, 7.2 so far in 2026 — capture that ceiling precisely: consistent, replaceable, rarely disruptive.
Treat Cade Otton as a streaming or bye-week option rather than a set-and-forget starter. His snap share alone — 93.2% last season and 93.4% now — guarantees he sees the field on nearly every play, and that keeps his floor stable from week to week regardless of game script. But the lack of scoring opportunity, evidenced by just one receiving touchdown in 2025 and only five red-zone targets on the whole season, means he is not going to swing a lineup on a given Sunday. In deeper leagues where tight end options thin out fast, he is a serviceable start any week given the target volume Baker Mayfield sends his way. In shallower formats with more depth at the position, he is better used as a matchup play or bench piece, especially in weeks where Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin Jr. are drawing extra defensive attention that could open up short-area throws for Otton, or conversely weeks where the offense leans harder on Bucky Irving and Kenny Gainwell in the run game and squeezes his target share. What would change the calculus is a jump in red-zone usage — if his red-zone target count starts climbing meaningfully above the five he saw last season, his touchdown output could catch up to his target volume and turn him into a weekly starter rather than a floor play. Until that shows up in the numbers, keep expectations tied to receptions and yardage, not scores.
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