Nobody threw the football more than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year, but with Tom Brady retiring this team could be in for a very rude awakening. They still have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. They have talent across the offense everywhere but quarterback. The battle between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask is the training camp battle nobody has been looking forward to. The question on all our minds (not really) is how Tampa Bay’s 2023 draft will impact the 2023 fantasy football season.
FULL TAMPA BAY DRAFT RESULTS
| Rd. | Pick | Player | Pos. | College |
| 1 | 19 | Calijah Kancey | DT | Pittsburgh |
| 2 | 17 | Cody Mauch | OT | North Dakota State |
| 3 | 19 | YaYa Diaby | DE | Louisville |
| 5 | 18 | SirVocea Dennis | LB | Pittsburgh |
| 5 | 36 | Payne Durham | TE | Purdue |
| 6 | 4 | Josh Hayes | DB | Kansas State |
| 6 | 14 | Trey Palmer | WR | Nebraska |
| 6 | 19 | Jose Ramirez | EDGE | Eastern Michigan |
Round 5, Pick 171 Overall: Payne Durham, Tight End, Purdue (6’6” 253 lbs)
Depth Chart:
TE1: Cade Otton
TE2: Ko Kieft
TE3: Payne Durham
TE4: David Wells
TALENT
Payne Durham is a very big man. For as big as Durham is, he has very good feet. I liked the way he changed direction for a man his size. Despite all that, I think Durham’s bread and butter at the next level will be blocking. He is a good blocker. Durham willingly engages and when he gets his hands on you, he stays engaged. What Durham is not is a plus athlete on tape. The man is a-turtle-moving-through-molasses slow and has no breakaway speed.
2023 OPPORTUNITY
Cade Otton is the primary tight end in Tampa Bay. Last year, Otten was on the field for 66.04% of the team’s snaps. What will work to Payne Durham’s advantage is that Kyle Rudolph and Cameron Brate are no longer with the Bucs, so there are 434 snaps from last season that need to be accounted for. All Durham has to do is beat out 2022 6th-round draft pick Ko Kieft. If Durham shows he can block, he should see playing time.
2023 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Even if Payne Durham does manage to carve out a role as the Bucs’ number two tight end, it will be an uphill battle for fantasy relevance. Odds are that Durham’s main role is going to be as a blocking tight end. Until fantasy football catches up to regular football and gives us the points for blocking that football nerds yearn for, it is highly unlikely that Durham will have any meaningful impact on the 2023 fantasy football season.
TALENT
2023 OPPORTUNITY
2023 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Round 6, Pick 191 Overall: Trey Palmer, Wide Receiver, Nebraska (6’0” 192 lbs)
Depth Chart:
WR1: Mike Evans
WR2: Chris Godwin
WR3: Russell Gage
WR4: Trey Palmer
TALENT
Trey Palmer was one of the fastest guys at the combine. The problem I had with his tape is that speed did not always show up on film. If Palmer gets behind someone, he is gone. However, as fast as he is, he doesn’t have a lot of burst in his game. Palmer isn’t very sudden out of his breaks. He rounds off his routes a lot and is not very quick off the line of scrimmage.
Palmer has decent size for the position and very quick feet. Palmer is a hand catcher and his hands are fine, but nothing that stood out to me as either a positive or a negative. This probably means his hands are actually good because I always notice the drops you should have made.
Trey Palmer is not strong. He goes down at first contact a lot and doesn’t fight for extra yards. However, Palmer is a very versatile player. He lines up everywhere and Nebraska found creative ways to get him the football. With his speed, his versatility could definitely get him on the field at the next level.
2023 OPPORTUNITY
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Russell Gage. Last year, 3242 of the Bucs’ 4746 passing yards went to wide receivers. 79.4% of that total went to the aforementioned wide receivers. Trey Palmer is a 6th-round rookie wide receiver. He was drafted as a developmental project. His opportunities will be negligible.
2023 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Let’s pretend that we don’t already know that the top three receivers are going to be the focal point of the 2023 Bucs’ passing game. Let’s assume that Trey Palmer will win that fourth wide receiver role held last season by Julio Jones, which is no sure thing. That would still mean he only has 24 catches for 299 yards and 2 touchdowns. That means you are hoping that Trey Palmer might get 53.9 fantasy points on the season. Barring injury, Trey Palmer will not be fantasy relevant.
TALENT
2023 OPPORTUNITY
2023 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
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