NFL 2022: The biggest weakness of each NFC South team

Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ biggest weakness for 2022 NFL season: Tight End

Determining what the biggest weakness on the Buccaneers roster is was no easy task. Tampa Bay is loaded with a strong offensive line, a deep wide receiver group, and a very talented defense.

Now with Tom Brady back in the fold, there are very few weaknesses on this roster. Ultimately my decision came down to either tight end or edge rusher.

Ultimately I went with the tight end position because I believe Shaq Barrett is a better edge rusher than Cameron Brate is a tight end.

I likely wouldn’t have chosen the tight-end position if it wasn’t for Rob Gronkowski retiring. Gronk was the best tight end on the Buccaneers roster last year as he is a talented player, but he also has an incredible connection with Brady.

Now that Gronk is gone and Brady without his favorite tight end target, it will now be up to Cam Brate and his other tight end contemporaries.

Let’s dive into the aforementioned Brate. Brate was an undrafted free agent signing with the Bucs and has spent his entire NFL career with Tampa Bay, outside of his less than a week-long stint on the Saints practice squad.

Brate has had a couple of quality seasons while with Tampa, but in terms of recent years, Brate has struggled a bit. Last year it was clear that Brate wasn’t tight end number one, but now with Gronkowski gone and OJ Howard in Buffalo, Brate is the clear number one tight end.

Outside of Brate, the other tight ends that are competing for snaps will likely be two rookie tight ends in Cade Otton and one of the best names in last year’s draft, Ko Kieft.

We will first look at Otton, who will likely receive the most snaps of the two rookie tight ends.

Otton is just a reliable tight end. He’s solid in the passing game, strong, and big enough to have an impact in the blocking game. The problem is that he is just simply, reliable.

He has no special traits that separate him from other tight ends, and will likely be just an okay tight end in the NFL at his peak.

While Otton is more of a jack of all trades, master of none, Kieft is a bit different. The blocking aspect of the tight end position is where Kieft excels as some legit power and strength in his frame.

Kieft also has the mentality to be a quality blocking tight end as he consistently wants to bury his opponents in the dirt. While Kieft is a quality blocking tight end, he doesn’t offer much in terms of receiving.

He has little receiving production and doesn’t show the ability to be a receiving threat in the future.

Unless Brate steps up in the absence of Gronk, I’d expect the tight end position to be one of the few weak spots on the Buccaneers roster.