Otton Drafted by Bucs, Frequent NFL Landing Spot for Huskies
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Cade Otton didn't have nearly the final season of University of Washington football that he envisioned, one constantly interrupted last year.
The 6-foot-5, 250-pound tight end from Tumwater, Washington, missed two games early on after contracting COVID-19 and sat out the final two outings with an ankle injury that required surgery.
On Saturday, Otton finally found solid ground as a football player once more, going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the first pick of the fourth round, 106th overall, of the NFL draft in Las Vegas.
He was the 13th Husky tight end taken in the history of the NFL draft, all over the past 49 years — see list below — and the second UW player at his position taken by the Buccaneers, following Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who went to Tampa Bay as a second-rounder in 2014.
Otton also was the third UW player taken by the Bucs in the past five drafts, reuniting with one-time Husky teammates in defensive tackle Vita Vea and edge rusher Joe Tryon, who were selected in 2018 and last year, respectively. Otton redshirted as a true freshman during Vea's final season in Montlake. Former UW deefensive tackle Benning Potoa'e, who went undrafted, also is on the Bucs roster and a teammate again.
In this current NFL draft, Otton was the fifth tight end selected following Colorado State's Trey McBride (second round, 55th) to the Arizona Cardinals, Virginia's Jelani Woods (third round, 73rd) to the Indianapolis Colts, UCLA Greg Dulcich (third round, 80th) to the Denver Broncos and Ohio State's Jeremy Ruckert (third round, 101st) to the New York Jets.
Otton's repeated absences on Saturdays this past fall and subsequent limited pro workouts might have cost him some draft standing, yet he would be the first to tell you that he's content to get his pro career started.
Before illness and injury struck him down, the four-year UW starter had earned a place firmly among the nation's top tight ends.
Otton did this by having a sensational albeit abbreviated four-game 2020 season at the height of the pandemic. He led the Huskies in receiving with 18 catches for 258 yards and 3 touchdowns, earning first-team All-Pac-12 honors and finishing among the semifinalists for the John Mackey Award, given to the nation's top player at his position.
Overall, Otton started 35 of the 39 Husky games in which he appeared and finished with 91 career catches for 1,026 yards and 9 scores.
He is regarded as both a high-end receiver and run blocker, and has the benefit of coming from a school with a longstanding reputation of supplying the NFL with tight ends.
UW Tight End Draft Picks
1973 — John Brady, TE, Detroit Lions, 3rd round.
1977 — Don Wardlow, TE, Dallas Cowboys, 11th round.
1987 — Rod Jones, TE, New York Giants, 8th round.
1992 — Aaron Pierce, TE, New York Giants, 3rd round.
1995 — Mark Bruener, TE, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1st round.
1996 — Ernie Conwell, TE, St. Louis Rams, 2nd round.
1998 — Cameron Cleeland, TE, New Orleans Saints, 2nd round.
1998 — Jeremy Brigham, TE, Oakland Raiders, 5th round.
2002 — Jerramy Stevens, TE, Seattle Seahawks, 1st round (28).
2014 — Austin Seferian-Jenkins, TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2nd round.
2018 — Will Dissly, TE, Seattle Seahawks, 4th round.
2019 — Drew Sample, TE, Cincinnati Bengals, 2nd round.
2022 — Cade Otton, TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 4th round.
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