TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will likely be with out their high tight finish, Cade Otton, after they face the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
Otton, who suffered a knee harm final week within the Bucs’ 40-17 victory on the Los Angeles Chargers, was downgraded to out Saturday and didn’t make the journey with the crew to Arlington, Texas.
Otton’s 600 receiving yards are seventh most within the league amongst tight ends getting into Week 16. His 59 receptions are additionally seventh most.
He ranks second on the crew in receiving yards behind five-time Professional Bowler Mike Evans and performed a key function within the passing recreation when Evans missed three video games with a hamstring harm and Chris Godwin was misplaced for the season.
Due to that, Otton’s 86 targets have truly made him the crew’s most focused participant this yr. He has additionally run extra routes out of the slot this yr (219) than every other participant on the crew.
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However Otton’s contributions aren’t simply felt with the ball in his fingers. He has made massive strides this season as a run blocker. He has produced a 74.9% run blocking win fee — fourth greatest on his crew at any place. In reality, 95.4% of Otton’s run blocking wins (62 wins, three losses) have resulted in first downs — the perfect proportion of any participant on the crew.
The Buccaneers are at present on a four-game win streak and have improved to 8-6, holding a one-game lead over the Atlanta Falcons within the NFC South. They’re going to must hold that margin because the Falcons have the head-to-head tiebreaker.
A win Sunday would tie the Bucs’ second-longest single-season win streak in franchise historical past and their longest since 2016, and it will give the Bucs a 93% likelihood to win the NFC South, in accordance with ESPN Analytics. Nevertheless, they’re 0-3 in prime-time video games this season.
