Cade Otton's Stats, Metrics, Game Logs, Projections & Rankings

Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton (knee) has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers. Otton will miss his second game in a row due to a left knee injury he suffered in Week 15. In his absence, the Buccaneers will call on Payne Durham to step up in Week 17. In Week 16, during Otton's absence, Durham had five catches for 29 yards and played 93% of the snaps. The Buccaneers need to win to keep their playoff hopes alive, so look for Baker Mayfield to lean on his wide receivers Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan in the passing game. The Buccaneers are 8.5-point favorites at home versus the Panthers, and game flow may play in favor of running backs Bucky Irving and Rachaad White. Durham ranks as TE34 in the latest RotoBaller tight end rankings for Week 17.

According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton (knee) remained sidelined during Thursday's practice. Otton has now missed the first two practices of the week and only has one more opportunity to log a session before Sunday's game. Fantasy managers should watch his status closely on Friday afternoon, as the tight end will likely carry an injury designation into the weekend. Otton could not suit up last weekend due to this injury and is in danger of missing his second-straight contest. Over his previous four games, Otton has seen just 4.3 targets and averaged an underwhelming 6.1 PPR points per game. Even if Otton can turn the corner in time to face the Panthers on Sunday, he should not be started in standard formats.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton (knee) has been downgraded to out for Sunday night's game against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 16. The Bucs will be without Otton and will play Payne Durham at tight end in his absence. Otton was a big pass-catching threat at the position but Durham has caught just two passes so far this season. It will be a big fantasy downgrade at the position for Tampa Bay which also expects Ko Kieft and Devin Culp to fill in some at tight end. Kieft and Culp have yet to catch a pass this season. Expect wide receivers Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan to benefit the most from Otton's absence, likely seeing an uptick in targets.