Toll of snaps.
Bucs tight end Cade Otton is beginning to become a favorite snack for the injury bug. And Joe is starting to wonder if this is the beginning of an ugly pattern.
It was revealed by Bucs coach Todd Bowles this week that Otton has an [unspecified leg injury](https://www.joebucsfan.com/2025/08/cade-otton-has-another-injury/). This on top of a hamstring that cost Otton weeks of training camp.
Otton also missed the final three games of the regular season in 2024 with a knee injury.
So that’s a knee injury, a hamstring, and a mysterious leg injury Otton has had since December 2024. Week 1 of the 2025 season is a week away.
So why all the injuries to Otton’s wheels all of a sudden? The answer may lie in the numbers.
In 2023 and 2024, no tight end played a higher percentage of snaps in the games he was active than Otton. In 2023, Otton played in 97 percent of the snaps, in a full season of 17 games. That came out to 1,064 snaps.
Last year Otton played in 92 percent of the snaps in games in which he was active. He logged 856 snaps.
And it wasn’t like Otton was in hiding in his rookie season. He had 70 snaps in 2022 while sharing time with Cam Brate. That same 70 percent of the snaps would have placed Otton as the 17th most snaps by a tight end in 2024.
What is Joe getting at here? Joe is beginning to think the wear and tear on Otton is beginning to catch up. Tight end is a physical position.
Look how much foot-rubbing Rob Gronkowski missed time with injuries. It actually drove him from the game twice.
Every person’s body is different. Some get hurt all the time. Some rarely (Ronde Barber springs to mind). Some develop quicker. Some age quicker.
Each body has only so many snaps of NFL football in it. Joe just wonders with all the punishment Otton’s body absorbed his first three seasons in the NFL, if we are beginning to see the toll of those beatings beginning to add up.