Buccaneers’ Free Agent Decision Report: Brandon Myers
Why Myers Should Stay
We talk all the time about depth. Every team needs solid depth behind their core starters. Cameron Brate has emerged as one of Jameis Winston’s favorite targets and the clear starting tight end. But as far as the depth chart goes, Myers brings eight years of experience, which goes a long way in helping a young team learn how to win.
The team will always be rooted in running the football if Dirk Koetter has anything to say about it. You need a stable of blockers, including tight ends that can be rotated in, to be able to sustain a running attack. Myers does fit the bill even though he may not be as good as Luke Stocker.
As a weapon in the passing game, he is no slouch either. He does stand at 6’4″, a perfect stature to help Winston out in the red zone and take pressure off of Mike Evans. Take a look at his career stats (Pro Football Reference):
| Games | Receiving | Rushing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Tm | Pos | No. | G | GS | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Lng | R/G | Y/G | Ctch% | Rush | Yds | TD | Lng | Y/A | Y/G | A/G | YScm | RRTD | Fmb | AV |
| 2009 | 24 | OAK | te | 83 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 19 | 4.8 | 0 | 6 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 66.7% | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 2010 | 25 | OAK | te | 83 | 15 | 3 | 16 | 12 | 80 | 6.7 | 0 | 16 | 0.8 | 5.3 | 75.0% | 80 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| 2011 | 26 | OAK | te | 83 | 16 | 7 | 27 | 16 | 151 | 9.4 | 0 | 24 | 1.0 | 9.4 | 59.3% | 151 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||
| 2012 | 27 | OAK | TE | 83 | 16 | 16 | 105 | 79 | 806 | 10.2 | 4 | 29 | 4.9 | 50.4 | 75.2% | 806 | 4 | 0 | 6 | |||||||
| 2013 | 28 | NYG | TE | 83 | 16 | 14 | 76 | 47 | 522 | 11.1 | 4 | 27 | 2.9 | 32.6 | 61.8% | 522 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |||||||
| 2014 | 29 | TAM | te/wr | 82 | 14 | 6 | 32 | 22 | 190 | 8.6 | 0 | 26 | 1.6 | 13.6 | 68.8% | 190 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||
| 2015 | 30 | TAM | fb/te | 82 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 12 | 127 | 10.6 | 0 | 17 | 1.1 | 11.5 | 70.6% | 127 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||
| 2016 | 31 | TAM | te | 82 | 16 | 9 | 14 | 7 | 59 | 8.4 | 1 | 12 | 0.4 | 3.7 | 50.0% | 59 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| Career | 115 | 63 | 293 | 199 | 1954 | 9.8 | 9 | 29 | 1.7 | 17.0 | 1954 | 9 | 1 | 13 | ||||||||||||
| 4 yrs | OAK | 58 | 28 | 154 | 111 | 1056 | 9.5 | 4 | 29 | 1.9 | 18.2 | 1056 | 4 | 1 | 8 | |||||||||||
| 3 yrs | TAM | 41 | 21 | 63 | 41 | 376 | 9.2 | 1 | 26 | 1.0 | 9.2 | 376 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 1 yr | NYG | 16 | 14 | 76 | 47 | 522 | 11.1 | 4 | 27 | 2.9 | 32.6 | 522 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
You will notice that Myers is not far removed from a 47 catch season with the Giants. His peak was just one year before that with the Oakland Raiders. He may not be a starter anymore, but look at his catch percentage. He consistently brings in more than 50% of his targets, even since he has been with Tampa.
He is pretty reliable.