Two Super Bowl hopefuls square off in Week 8’s Thursday Night Football matchup. The Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers both need to score a win, but we’re more concerned about fantasy football managers adding to their playoff resume. Winning in the margins matters as much as ever as we near the midway point of the season.
Fantasy managers don’t have to search far to get the answers they need for Week 8. One big question mark in Week 8 is whether the Buccaneers can feed tight end Cade Otton into fantasy relevancy. Let’s dive into whether you should start Otton against the Ravens.
Should You Start Cade Otton vs. the Ravens?
So much for replacing Rob Gronkowski. The Buccaneers’ offense has been lost without the GOAT tight end, and their efforts to utilize the veteran duo of Kyle Rudolph’s corpse and Cameron Brate has brought little to the table. It’s not a shocking development that a rookie has instead been their best pass catcher at the position.
Regardless of how your league is going, your fantasy football season is never over on Underdog Fantasy. Take the higher on Otton’s 29.5 receiving yards on Underdog Fantasy for a deposit bonus of up to $100. Let’s dive into why that’s a good pick.
It’s certainly not a secret that Tom Brady knows how to maximize the tight end position. Throughout his career, Brady has found comfort with reliable options that may have lacked explosiveness. His accuracy and timing mesh with a position that is more about chemistry than most receivers.
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Otton has continued to overtake this role and has been the undisputed TE1 on the depth chart over the last month. He’s played in no less than 56 percent of the snaps in that span, maxing out with 94 percent in Week 5. With a career-high 64 yards last week, Otton has hit 29 yards in three of the last four games.
The rotation of receivers who miss time within the Buccaneers’ offense continues into Week 8. Russell Gage has already been ruled out, and Julio Jones will at least be limited. These absences only further Otton’s upside.
Entering Week 8, Otton is ranked at TE23 in our expert PPR fantasy football rankings. This might look optimistic for a player with 163 receiving yards on the season, but he’s averaging five targets per game over the last three weeks. He also has a decent matchup against the Ravens’ defense.
The Ravens are average against tight ends, giving up an average of 5.3 receptions for 44.3 yards and 0.57 touchdowns. Otton has only three red-zone targets this season and has caught one pass in that area of the field. For him to cash in as a streaming tight end option, he’ll need to get red-zone targets and reach the end zone.
Rostered in 13 percent of Yahoo leagues and eight percent of ESPN leagues, Otton is a sleeper for Week 8. I would certainly prefer other streaming tight end options over Otton, including Juwan Johnson, but the timing is right for Otton to continue building on his rookie resume. Given how the tight end position has played out this season, Otton would leap into the top-20 mix if he scores a touchdown in Week 8.