Bucs Nation
The Bucs could look to upgrade the tight end position again in this year’s draft
Cade Otton stepped up last season and showed he can be a TE1 in the NFL, especially for this Buccaneers offense. And while they used a draft pick on Payne Durham last year, the position could still be upgraded moving forward. Ko Kieft has his role as a blocker while Otton and Durham flashed as pass catchers with Durham coming on late in the year, However, Otton took 97% of offensive snaps in 2023 and that just isn’t sustainable. The Bucs are going to need another pass catching threat to alleviate some of the pressure for him.
Ja’Tavion Sanders was a wide receiver and defensive end - as well as a basketball player - for Billy Ray High School in Denton, Texas. He was a first team All-District at defensive end while adding 63 receptions for 1,161 yards and 16 touchdowns on the offensive side of the ball earning him district Co-MVP honors. He was a five star recruit and chose Texas over Alabama, Ohio State, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Notre Dame, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M.
As a Longhorn, Sanders started off his first pre-season by playing on both sides of the ball before coaches made the decision to place him at tight end. While he was primarily a special teams player as a freshman, he became their top tight end in his sophomore season - twice being named to the All-Big12 team. Sanders finished 2022 with 54 receptions, 613 yards, and five touchdowns and followed that up in 2023 with 45 receptions, 682 yards, and two touchdowns while increasing his yards per catch from 11.4 to 15.2.
He performed at his best against Oklahoma State in the Sugar Bowl, snagging 8 receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown before facing Washington in a 37-31 loss on New Year’s Day, finishing that game with 6 receptions for 75 yards.
Sanders had a solid showing at the NFL Scouting Combine, running a 4.69 40 with a 1.59 10-yard split and finishing with an NFL NextGen Stats composite score of 81 - second among all tight ends.
However, Sanders struggled at Texas’ Pro Day where he had just eight bench press reps, a 30” vertical jump, and a 9’ 6” broad jump - all considered below-average. Sanders told the media afterwards;
“I just overestimated my warmup at my pro day testing. I had a lot of adrenaline rushing, you know what I’m saying? It was coaches everywhere. So I just kind of overestimated it, thinking that adrenaline was going to help me. So that was on me. That’s why my numbers was bad, but I definitely, definitely play faster on the field. I feel like my film is showing that.”
Pro Football Focus has him as the number two tight end in the class behind Brock Bowers, with an overall offensive grade of 75.6, pointing...
