The dual losses of star receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to injury would have felled a lesser team, but not these Buccaneers.
There's a good reason why Tampa Bay was able to find a way to move the football in the absence of Evans and Godwin in the last two weeks: Cade Otton has blossomed. The third-year tight end has gone from the top option at the position to the top target in the entire pass-catching corps for the Buccaneers, and quarterback Baker Mayfield isn't shying away from feeding the former fourth-round pick, targeting him 10-plus times in each of their last three games.
The final results: 25 catches, 258 yards and three touchdowns in just a trio of contests.
"It's all Cade," Mayfield said on Wednesday of his new favorite target, via the team's transcript.
"[He's] a special player that [is] so smart, he knows where to be, he knows exactly what we're trying to get done within whatever scheme we're calling, run or pass, and he understands everything. Then you add in the physical traits that he has and he's able to showcase those in the last few weeks and that's an all-around player that we have."
Otton has proven himself as quite the heady tight end, running precise routes and adjusting them in order to find soft spots in zones. In the last three games, he's performed as if he's played with Mayfield since pee-wee.
"It's really been his route-running," head coach Todd Bowles said on Wednesday. "Not that he couldn't do it -- I don't think we asked him to do it because we had the other guys out there doing it. So, just asking him to step up more in a receiver role, you really see his route-running prowess and his precision."
It couldn't come at a better time. Gone are the days in which Mayfield knew that if all else failed, he could toss it up to Evans and the odds would likely be in their favor. With Evans sidelined by a hamstring injury and Godwin done for the season due to a disloacted ankle, Mayfield desperately needed a new reliable pass-catcher to keep this offense afloat.
He's found it in Otton.
"Intelligence in football does a lot for you because at this level, obviously you have to be physically gifted, but intelligence takes you to the next level and Cade has that," Mayfield continued. "Like I said, he understands what we're trying to get done and understands the concepts and everything that everybody else is doing. He knows where he fits into it and how to get open."
Some might wonder whether Otton has just snuck up on folks, much like a rookie call-up might throw a gem in his first Major League Baseball outing, but falls back to earth once the book is out on him. Bowles made sure to note that while Otton has earned his rewards, he's not doing it alone, pointing to the schematic successes created by offensive coordinator Liam Coen.
Mayfield agreed.
"In man-to-man coverage, he's just doing a good job of winning but in the zone stuff, he's understanding the soft spots in the zones, the timing of where he's at in the progression and that's a big part of it," Mayfield said. "In this offense right now, we're distributing the ball, trying to get it to everybody and so sometimes they're not keyed in on him. There's a couple third downs where they did double cover him or tried to and so the ball is going to go elsewhere but yeah, he understands where he fits in the progression really well."
The Buccaneers have duct-taped their offense in the last two weeks with Otton as the primary producer, and veteran Sterling Shepard teaming with Rakim Jarrett and Trey Palmer to fill in the gaps. Things got even more difficult once Jalen McMillan went down with an injury, yet the Buccaneers still found a way to put 24 points on the board in an overtime loss to the defending champion Chiefs on Monday night.
This is Tampa Bay's reality for now. Thanks to Otton, Mayfield, Coen and the rest of the bunch, they're making the best of it.
The Bucs (4-5) next host the San Francisco 49ers (4-4) on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
