Cade Otton 2025 Fantasy Football Outlook, Projections, And Ranking

Cade Otton’s 2025 fantasy football outlook highlights his steady progression, underrated red-zone role, and sleeper potential as a late-round tight end target.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton (88) spikes the ball after scoring a touchdown in the first half against the Atlanta Falcons at Raymond James Stadium. | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

Cade Otton continues to climb the fantasy football ladder after setting career highs across the board in 2024 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, finishing as a top-15 tight end in PPR formats. While still battling for targets behind Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, Otton’s steady growth and red-zone upside make him a sneaky value pick in 2025 drafts.

Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Over four seasons in college, Otton caught 91 passes for 1,026 yards and nine touchdowns on 124 targets. His best output came in his sophomore year (32/344/2). Tampa drafted him in the fourth round in 2022.

Tampa Bay had Otton on the field for 66.5% of their plays in his rookie season. He caught 42 of his 65 targets for 391 yards and two touchdowns while gaining 9.3 yards per catch. His best value came in four games (6/43, 4/64, 5/68/1, and 6/28/1). Otton missed Week 2 with a personal issue.

In 2023, he only made minor progressions in his stats (47/455/4 on 67 targets) despite improving his catch rate (70.1). Otton gained only 9.7 yards per catch (9.3 in 2022). His top fantasy output came in Week 9 (6/70/2) and the playoffs (8/89 and 5/65/1). Tampa gave Otton more than six targets in all three of these matchups (9, 11, and 8).

For the second consecutive year, Otton set new tops in catches (59), receiving yards (600), and targets (87) despite missing the final three games with a left knee injury. His uptick in value came midseason (8/100, 9/81/2, and 8/77/1) after Chris Godwin went down with his injury. Over this span, Tampa gave him 31 targets (10, 10, and 11). 

Otton finished 14th in tight scoring (142.00) in PPR formats, but he posted seven games with fewer than 8.00 fantasy points (1/5, 0/0, 3/44, 1/30, 4/20, 2/24, and 2/32). 

Cade Otton 2025 Fantasy Football Outlook, Projections, Ranking

Otton is a matchup player for the Buccaneers, offering sneaky value at times. He’ll continue to rank fourth or below on the target food chain in this offense behind Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, and Tampa’s running backs. 

As the 25th tight end drafted this season, Otton looks mispriced. His progression in 2024 is expected to continue this year. With a baby step to a 60/600/5 year, he will approach a top 12 tight end, while at the minimum offering matchup value.

Otton is currently the TE28 in our 2025 PPR Rankings and the TE25 in Non-PPR formats.