The Forg(Otton) Man

By: Josh Frey-Sam

I’m betting on Cade Otton this week — literally and figuratively.

You might not remember it, but there was a four-week stretch last season when Cade Otton was the top tight end in fantasy football.

It was from Weeks 7 to 11, when the 2022 fourth-round pick was thrust into a prominent role in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ passing attack in the wake of Mike Evans being sidelined with a hamstring injury.

The stat line?

A beautiful 30 receptions on 39 targets for 293 yards and three touchdowns.

It was glorious to be an Otton owner, and history could repeat itself — at least for one week.

Evans is expected to be sidelined with another hamstring injury for the next few weeks, which vacates anywhere from eight to 11 targets per game.

They have to go somewhere. I get it, Otton isn’t a sexy pick. He only truly becomes relevant when his teammates get injured.

It’s been true again this season, as he has a forgettable three catches on seven targets for 25 yards. A big reason for that is the Buccaneers’ offensive line has been banged up early on, so Otton has been asked to stay in to block rather than run routes.

Some help could be on the way this week, though, as left tackle Tristan Wirfs is nearing a return to action.

There still remains reason for caution.

Otton’s sensational stretch last season came not only as Evans was hurt in Week 7, but also as Chris Godwin Jr. was lost for the season in Week 8.

Otton and Godwin shared the field in Week 7, and they both posted solid stat lines. Otton: eight catches for 100 yards and a touchdown. Godwin: seven catches for 65 yards.

I bring up Godwin because he’s tracking toward making his season debut this week against Philadelphia.

Why I’m not entirely worried about Godwin’s presence — at least for one week — is his injury, a dislocated ankle, historically has lingering effects for wide receivers and needs weeks of game action before the player can even come close to the level they were at pre-injury. In fact, there’s a decent chance they never get back to that level.

The other (bigger) obstacle is rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka, who appears poised to command the lion’s share of targets.

Otton is unlikely to dethrone Egbuka from his place in this offence, but with Godwin potentially playing a limited role at best this week, Otton can certainly eat up much of the targets left behind by Evans.

A bonus (I say tongue in cheek) here is that the Eagles, who are among the best units at defending the tight end position, could be without linebackers Zach Baun and Jihaad Campbell, who did not practice Wednesday.

If you’re scrambling for a tight end in fantasy, I think Otton is a decent dart-throw streaming option. If you’re a betting man like me, consider the over on his receptions prop.

There’s a history here that is tough to ignore, even though that’s largely what we’ve done with Otton so far this season.

Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Josh