The Tampa Bay Buccaneers sputtered again offensively on Sunday vs. the Green Bay Packers, as they could only muster 14 points as a team behind rookie undrafted free agent quarterback Jalon Daniels, who will draw the starts until Baker Mayfield comes back from yet another frustrating injury. While Daniels threw two interceptions, the problems pervading the Buccaneers offense went far beyond an overmatched young quarterback, who, materially, wasn't any worse than Mayfield before him.
There are so many problems with the Bucs offense, which was overrated for a long time by its fans, and one of the most prominent new ones is Zac Robinson. With Kirk Cousins wheeling and dealing without Z-Rob as his offensive coordinator now that he is free in Viva Las Vegas, Robinson's own gross incompetence is being further highlighted in Tampa Bay, where fans are actually wondering if they were just better off with Josh Grizzard.
Robinson's infatuation with force-feeding targets to the tight end position wasn't so embarrassing when that tight end was Kyle Pitts with the Atlanta Falcons, as the former Florida Gator can be a beast of a weapon. But Cade Otton is not even a top-15 tight end in the NFL, and in addition to regretting the Robinson hire, the Bucs are probably regretting paying Otton so much.
Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin Jr. deserve the targets that are going to Cade Otton
Otton has been one of the team's leaders in targets this season, hauling in 15 of 23 passes thrown his way. Only Emeka Egbuka has more targets by one, which means that the Buccaneers are dialing up more plays to a below-average tight end than to their best receiver, former 1,200-yard guy Chris Godwin Jr.
Otton is also getting the rock more than rookie Ted Hurst and explosive talent Tez Johnson. The running backs all have fewer catches, and Egbuka, again, has as many.
Against the Green Bay Packers, Cade Otton caught four passes for 37 yards. For the first time, he had fewer catches than Godwin, who leads the team in receptions now despite significantly fewer targets than Otton. But it's still a problem that the Bucs are calling his number when the yardage return is so poor and when Emeka Egbuka is basically rendered a ghost by Zac Robinson's system with just two catches on four targets.
The Buccaneers are getting nothing out of targeting Otton. There is no YAC upside, his catch rate is about the same as any other player's so he's not really a safety valve, and he's never been a red zone maven. Otton is an underwhelming player and a black hole of targets, and the Bucs need to find a new way to beat defenses to actually win games.
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