The Case for(or Against) Drafting/Signing a TE

[kungfoodude]

In general, Dave Canales tends to target his TE's the least frequently of any position group(WR/RB/TE) during his three years of running an NFL offense. 

However, if you notice this percentage has crept up over time. 2025 is the first year that TE has eclipsed RB in target percentage.

Production has also gone up in 2025. This is a percentage of total output in each category.

Canales has always used a very TE heavy offense. In fact, on average his offensive formations are 2 or 3 TE sets roughly 80% of all offensive formations.

So, the question may be, with this uptick in total TE output, could an elite or top tier TE make a significant impact? I believe there is some evidence this may be the case. Here are a look at TE snaps and Cade Otten specifically. These are the snap percentages for all rostered TE's in every Dave Canales offense.

The bolded cell is Cade Otten's whopping 96.46% of total snap counts in the single year he was in the Dave Canales offense in Tampa. This was overwhelmingly his career high. His production was higher with less utilization in 2024, however. 

 

In conclusion, while I don't anticipate ever seeing a top 5 producing/Pro Bowl caliber TE performance in a Dave Canales offense, there does appear to be some evidence that an actual upgrade in our TE room would actually lead to increasing overall offensive efficiency. I think Otten's utilization rate does indicate that the splitting of time between our relatively even TE group would cede significant snaps if a far superior option were available. I believe this is an area we could(and should have this past offseason/draft) made a more concerted effort to get a dynamic TE threat, after the apparent failure that J. Sanders appears to have been.

 

[*FreeFua*]

I assume Otten will be a Panther in 2026 

Although someone like Kenyon Sadiq is fun to think about it

[kungfoodude]

1 minute ago, *FreeFua* said:

I assume Otten will be a Panther in 2026 

Although someone like Kenyon Sadiq is fun to think about it

Otton will be in line for a payday but I don't know if I would love paying top dollar for a guy that we would use but likely never get our monies worth because of the offense in general that we run.

I would rather attempt that in the draft for a couple of reasons, it's cheap and if we DO land an elite TE, he should outlast the HC/OC that we have and it's possible to see him flourish eventually.

[SmokinwithWilly]

If possible we should look at Mayer out of Vegas. He's disappeared behind Bowers. I wouldn't spend a lot but it was rumored he was on the block earlier this year. 

[*FreeFua*]

2 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

Otton will be in line for a payday but I don't know if I would love paying top dollar for a guy that we would use but likely never get our monies worth because of the offense in general that we run.

I would rather attempt that in the draft for a couple of reasons, it's cheap and if we DO land an elite TE, he should outlast the HC/OC that we have and it's possible to see him flourish eventually.

I really don’t think Otton’s price tag will be overly high this offseason. He’s had a down year 

[Khyber53]

As much as I wish it were different, our TE room is a bunch of nobodies. Don't mean to slam them, but as a group they've been pretty lackluster and none of them has managed to push themselves to the forefront of a rather easy batch of competitors.

I mean, really. Tommy Tremble has been the leader for most parts but he's putting up second string, maybe third string vibes. 

We definitely need to work on this.

[kungfoodude]

Just now, SmokinwithWilly said:

If possible we should look at Mayer out of Vegas. He's disappeared behind Bowers. I wouldn't spend a lot but it was rumored he was on the block earlier this year. 

I think he would just end up in a crowded TE room without the ability to really stand out. Tremble is a decent enough roster guy that makes sense for us because we have such heavy multiple TE utilization rates but realistically he is a JAG. Sanders is trending bust and Evans I still have some hope for, although he has fallen off recently. I don't think there is a single guy on the roster that cannot be upgraded over.

I just don't think Mayer is an upgrade over really any of them. Probably a lateral movement at the very best. 

[kungfoodude]

2 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

I really don’t think Otton’s price tag will be overly high this offseason. He’s had a down year 

He is very much in line with his career averages almost across the board. He hasn't seen the endzone much but that is also probably a reflection of the fact that their overall passing TD's are down quite a bit(Baker at his lowest Passing TD's/GM in his Tampa career). 

I don't think he is gonna break the bank but it's probably going to be more than I would want to personally pay. 

[Waldo]

I like the idea of signing a vet TE vs drafting one. That room is really underwhelming and it would open up options and allow them to focus in the draft on the many other areas needing upgrades. 

 

[kungfoodude]

3 minutes ago, Waldo said:

I like the idea of signing a vet TE vs drafting one. That room is really underwhelming and it would open up options and allow them to focus in the draft on the many other areas needing upgrades. 

 

There are some decent options but mostly in the 30+ crowd that might be a little pricey. IMO, TE upgrade makes a little more sense through the draft IF you can see another TE class like the 2025 class. Evans has been better than I expected him to be but we REALLY whiffed on some serious weapons in that 2025 TE class. 

I don't expect this to be a priority for our FO at all. We just don't use TE's enough for them to target them, IMO. I think it would be a potentially big boost to the offense but I don't think it's something Dave Canales values, at all. All the more reason to get a real OC in here.

[Waldo]

1 minute ago, kungfoodude said:

There are some decent options but mostly in the 30+ crowd that might be a little pricey. IMO, TE upgrade makes a little more sense through the draft IF you can see another TE class like the 2025 class. Evans has been better than I expected him to be but we REALLY whiffed on some serious weapons in that 2025 TE class. 

I don't expect this to be a priority for our FO at all. We just don't use TE's enough for them to target them, IMO. I think it would be a potentially big boost to the offense but I don't think it's something Dave Canales values, at all. All the more reason to get a real OC in here.

Had to get started on working with the passrushers we got. It was necessary and they do take time to develop. I get it but I would be fine with a 2 or 3 year TE option vs the draft.  

Yes to a real full time OC please. Good coaches work with what they have so if they have a good TE then start working them in. Line then up off the line if that's the case. Or do a QB sneak. Should open up more for the RBs too if any kind of a decent threat.  

[Mr. Scot]

We're running an offense based on Weat Coast concepts.

If you think back over the best versions of that system, you generally find yourself remembering the names of great receiving tight ends.

Throw in that unless it's in the plans to try and ship Legette  somewhere, we're probably not looking at another wide receiver, so TE makes sense. 

[kungfoodude]

2 minutes ago, Waldo said:

Had to get started on working with the passrushers we got. It was necessary and they do take time to develop. I get it but I would be fine with a 2 or 3 year TE option vs the draft.  

Yes to a real full time OC please. Good coaches work with what they have so if they have a good TE then start working them in. Line then up off the line if that's the case. Or do a QB sneak. Should open up more for the RBs too if any kind of a decent threat.  

I think Scourton/Umanmeilen's ceilings will ultimately be potential Wonnum/Jones II replacements and that's about it. Umanmeilen has the higher ceiling but he looks pretty far from being able to reach it. At this point you have to consider them rotational guys and try to get actual elite/starting talent at EDGE. Let them develop as rotational guys and hopefully the light clicks on eventually.

I would imagine any/all OC changes will be basically forced by ownership prior to firing Dave.

[kungfoodude]

4 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

We're running an offense based on Weat Coast concepts.

If you think back over the best versions of that system, you generally find yourself remembering the names of great receiving tight ends.

Throw in that unless it's in the plans to try and ship Legette  somewhere, we're probably not looking at another wide receiver, so TE makes sense. 

Canales doesn't have a history of TE utilization, however.

I would imagine they will try to upgrade at WR. Legette has already seen his PT cut by about mid-season. He went from 70-90% utilization on offensive snaps to 55-70% utilization. 

I think you see that they basically are aware that he just isn't a capable NFL player. He is having a sophomore slump but that's tough when you also had a freshman slump. 

The fans see a lot of potential in that WR room, and I do to an extent, but you also have to acknowledge that despite the improvement, it's still one of the NFL's worst WR corps.