I see that Dirk Koetter is saying that Cameron Brate is working as Tampa Bay’s starting tight end, ahead Austin Seferian-Jenkins. This is one of those deals where we must decide if it’s legit, or just a motivational ploy, intended to light a fire under their former second-round pick.
A few months back, recall, Koetter kicked Seferian-Jenkins out of practice because he didn’t know the offense well enough.
In this case, I believer it’s for real. I think Brate will start ahead of Seferian-Jenkins.
Brate may be a former undrafted free agent (out of Harvard, no less), and he’s on the lean side, at 235 pounds. But he has good hands and might simply have a better grasp of the offense.
Seferian-Jenkins thus far has been plagued by injuries and inconsistency. I recall that when he came back from his injury last year, they didn’t put him back into the lineup initially. They had him working as a situational player – coming in for a few plays here and there.
For the season, Seferian-Jenkins caught only 21 of the 39 passes they threw to him. Of the 40 tight ends with at least 30 targets last year, only two caught a lower percentage of passes.
Brate, on the other hand, caught 77 percent of the passes thrown his way – 2nd-best among tight ends.
That’s not necessarily the end-all metric, of course. The Bucs tried to use Seferian-Jenkins on a lot of deeper routes, and those are harder to complete. He averaged 16.1 yards per catch, 2nd-most among tight ends. Brate is more of a slower, possession-type tight end.
But I’ve seen enough of these guys that I believe Brate is for real. When the Bucs take the field for their opener, I expect it will be Brate in the starting lineup, with Seferian-Jenkins just a part-time player.
It was Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times who wrote the story indicating that Koetter says Brate is Tampa Bay’s first-string tight end.
| CATCH RATIOS FOR TIGHT ENDS WITH 30 TARGETS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tgt | No | Yards | Pct | Avg |
| Brent Celek, Phil. | 35 | 27 | 398 | 77% | 11.4 |
| Cameron Brate, T.B. | 30 | 23 | 288 | 77% | 9.6 |
| Jordan Reed, Wash. | 114 | 87 | 952 | 76% | 8.4 |
| Heath Miller, Pitt. | 81 | 60 | 535 | 74% | 6.6 |
| Jason Witten, Dall. | 104 | 77 | 713 | 74% | 6.9 |
| Zach Miller, Chi. | 46 | 34 | 439 | 74% | 9.5 |
| Jacob Tamme, Atl. | 81 | 59 | 657 | 73% | 8.1 |
| Larry Donnell, NYG | 41 | 29 | 223 | 71% | 5.4 |
| Delanie Walker, Tenn. | 133 | 94 | 1,088 | 71% | 8.2 |
| Tyler Eifert, Cin. | 74 | 52 | 615 | 70% | 8.3 |
| Crockett Gillmore, Balt. | 47 | 33 | 412 | 70% | 8.8 |
| Travis Kelce, K.C. | 103 | 72 | 875 | 70% | 8.5 |
| Mychal Rivera, Oak. | 46 | 32 | 280 | 70% | 6.1 |
| Lance Kendricks, St.L. | 36 | 25 | 245 | 69% | 6.8 |
| Richard Rodgers, G.B. | 85 | 58 | 510 | 68% | 6.0 |
| Will Tye, NYG | 62 | 42 | 464 | 68% | 7.5 |
| Ben Watson, N.O. | 110 | 74 | 825 | 67% | 7.5 |
| Eric Ebron, Det. | 70 | 47 | 537 | 67% | 7.7 |
| Kyle Rudolph, Minn. | 73 | 49 | 495 | 67% | 6.8 |
| Zach Ertz, Phil. | 112 | 75 | 853 | 67% | 7.6 |
| Maxx Williams, Balt. | 48 | 32 | 268 | 67% | 5.6 |
| Martellus Bennett, Chi. | 80 | 53 | 439 | 66% | 5.5 |
| Charles Clay, Buff. | 77 | 51 | 528 | 66% | 6.9 |
| Antonio Gates, S.D. | 85 | 56 | 630 | 66% | 7.4 |
| Vance McDonald, S.F. | 46 | 30 | 326 | 65% | 7.1 |
| Jimmy Graham, Sea. | 74 | 48 | 605 | 65% | 8.2 |
| Coby Fleener, Ind. | 84 | 54 | 491 | 64% | 5.8 |
| Gary Barnidge, Clev. | 125 | 79 | 1,043 | 63% | 8.3 |
| Greg Olsen, Car. | 124 | 77 | 1,104 | 62% | 8.9 |
| Anthony Fasano, Tenn. | 42 | 26 | 289 | 62% | 6.9 |
| Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 120 | 72 | 1,176 | 60% | 9.8 |
| Owen Daniels, Den. | 77 | 46 | 517 | 60% | 6.7 |
| Ryan Griffin, Hou. | 34 | 20 | 251 | 59% | 7.4 |
| Ladarius Green, S.D. | 63 | 37 | 429 | 59% | 6.8 |
| Julius Thomas, Jac. | 80 | 46 | 455 | 58% | 5.7 |
| Clive Walford, Oak. | 50 | 28 | 329 | 56% | 6.6 |
| Scott Chandler, N.E. | 42 | 23 | 259 | 55% | 6.2 |
| Austin Seferian-Jenkins, T.B. | 39 | 21 | 338 | 54% | 8.7 |
| Jared Cook, St.L. | 75 | 39 | 481 | 52% | 6.4 |
| Jordan Cameron, Mia. | 70 | 35 | 386 | 50% | 5.5 |
—Ian Allan
