On Thursday night of Week 5, the Buccaneers take on the Falcons in an important early-season battle for control of the NFC South. Over the last few weeks, Cade Otton ($4,000) has stepped up as a key part of the Bucs’ passing game, and he can be a very solid fill-in tight end this week for your fantasy team as a result.
The key reason I highlighted Otton as a grab from the Waiver Wire earlier this week is that he has been targeted a total of 17 times over the last two weeks. That’s the third-most targets of all tight ends over that span behind only Dallas Goedert and Jake Ferguson.
Otton finished with six catches for 52 yards against Goedert’s Eagles on Sunday, after catching seven passes for 47 yards against the Broncos in Week 3. He has also been targeted in the red zone one time in each of the last three weeks, although he has yet to score a touchdown this year.
Otton is a high-risk play as he can be forced to stay in and block and run fewer routes depending on game script. For instance, in Week 2, he didn’t get a single catch since he was helping to slow down Aiden Hutchinson and the Lions. When he’s running routes, though, Baker Mayfield ($9,600) looks his way often enough to make him a viable play.
He’s just outside my top 10 TE for this week, but is definitely someone you can start if you’re dealing with injury, ineffectiveness or bye week issues.
On Thursday, he faces the Falcons, who have allowed at least five tight end receptions in three of their four games this season, along with an average of 38.5 receiving yards to the position.
The Buccaneers are 1.5-point underdogs on the road in Atlanta with the over/under set at 43.5. If you’re looking to back Otton on DraftKings Sportsbook, he is +330 to score a touchdown and +195 to get 40+ receiving yards.
Based on his workload the last two weeks, he realistically could hit those numbers, which would also be enough to make him a starter in most formats this week. He’s also a solid value play in single-game Showdown DFS contests like the NFL $1.5M Thursday Night Showdown [$500K to 1st] (TB @ ATL) where his salary is just $4,000 in a flex spot.
Start or Sit Cade Otton: Start.
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