Cade Otton start or sit: Week 8 fantasy football advice

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Buffalo Bills kickstart Week 8 of the NFL season with a Thursday Night Football matchup. Both teams are coming off losses last week, though the Buccaneers will look to keep their undefeated mark on the road as they travel to Buffalo. Among the fantasy players to keep an eye on will be tight end Cade Otton, who had a surprisingly efficient outing in Week 7.

Will Otton be able to carry that momentum into Thursday night? We break down whether Tampa Bay’s tight end is worth a start in fantasy lineups.

Fantasy Football analysis: Bucs TE Cade Otton

Otton enters Week 8 ranked as TE25 in PPR fantasy leagues, having caught 18 receptions for 147 receiving yards. He’s averaging 6.5 PPR fantasy points per game this season, which is a minimal improvement from his 5.8 PPR average during the 2022 season.

Start or sit in Week 8 PPR leagues?

Sit. The uptick in usage is encouraging after Week 7, but it could prove to be a rare one-off week in which Otton was involved in the game script. His five receptions last week were just the second instance all season in which he recorded five catches or more in a game. That illustrates his clear role behind the likes of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, who are the only truly reliable pass catchers in this offense.

Otton is a confident bench player in smaller fantasy leagues. In larger leagues of 12 to 14 teams, where options are limited, feel free to treat him as a risky flex option.

Start or sit in Week 8 standard leagues?

Sit. Before his 43-yard receiving performance in Week 7, Otton had been held to 20 yards or less in two of his prior three games. Week 2, in which he caught all six receptions for 41 yards, marked the only other game in which he surpassed the 20-yard receiving mark. Thursday night games tend to be sluggish, so it’s hard to trust Otton to put together back-to-back solid outings when he’s failed to do so yet.

Otton should be off the fantasy radar in smaller fantasy leagues of fewer than 10 teams and can be considered at best a flex option in larger leagues.

Player(s) you would start ahead of Cade Otton

Michael Mayer of the Las Vegas Raiders could be a stronger candidate to start over Otton. The rookie is coming off a humbling Week 7 performance, however, he’ll have Jimmy Garoppolo back in the fold for Week 8 against the Detroit Lions. With Garoppolo under center, Mayer had his best fantasy performance of his young career, totaling 12.5 PPR fantasy points back in Week 6.