Twice in the offseason Dirk Koetter has spoken favorably about Cameron Brate. Is this just a case of Koetter trying to light a fire under Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who was tossed out of a practice recently for being unprepared? Or is Brate a legitimate sleeper for a starting job.
"Cam has got an uncanny ability to show up in the red zone and we saw that again today,'' Koetter said in an article in the Tampa Bay Tribune.
The Bucs selected Seferian-Jenkins early in the second year, but he’s been a disappointment. He’s been hurt for about half of his first two seasons, and he also seems to have had problems picking up the offense. When he came back from an injury late last year, they had him coming off the bench as a second tight end, rather than using him as a starter.
Brate was undrafted coming out of Harvard and spent over a year bouncing off and on practice squads before finally landing on Tampa Bay’s active roster, but he seems to have some talent and ability.
In limited playing time last year, Brate was statistically more effective than Seferian-Jenkins.
Brate caught 23 of 30 targets last year (77 percent), 2nd-best among tight ends with at least 30 pass plays.
Seferian-Jenkins caught only 21 of 39 (54 percent), 5th-worst. Best I can say on his behalf is that they had him running a lot of downfield routes, so there some so increased degree of difficulty. He averaged 16.1 yards per catch, while Brate was down at 12.5 (also above-average for a tight end).
Bottom line: Seferian-Jenkins probably will be Tampa Bay’s best tight end, but I can’t say that with certainty.
—Ian Allan