2022 Fantasy Upside
Rob Gronkowski retired, and OJ Howard left in free agency, so Cameron Brate steps into the starting tight end role. Brate has shown success in the past, most notably in 2016 with his 57-660-8 season and 2017 when he finished 48-591-6. Not only did Gronk retire, but the Bucs also lost Antonio Brown, and will likely be without Chris Godwin (knee) at the start of the year. This opens some opportunities for Brate, especially as a red zone threat.
2022 Fantasy Downside
We had to date back five to six seasons to provide you with Brate’s last relevant successful years. Brate is a 31-year-old tight end who has averaged 281.8 receiving yards over the last four seasons. Some of that is because he was relegated to a backup role, but he didn’t impress last season when taking over during Gronkowski’s injury absence. When Gronk missed five games, Brate finished with a combined 7-73-1. The Bucs realized tight end was a position of need, and brought in a pair of rookies in the NFL Draft including 4th-round pick Cade Otton. They also brought in veteran tight end Kyle Rudolph, who will surely have a sizable role.
2022 Bottom Line
There are a few things going Brate’s way. Gronk is gone, Tom Brady is back, Brate is a starting caliber TE and he’s had some success in the past. But there’s nothing about Brate himself that gets fantasy owners excited. He’s not fast, doesn’t have much production in recent seasons and wasn’t even that great last year with a poor 52.6% catch percentage. The Bucs signing Rudolph is also a pretty big detriment. If Brate does start the year as the team’s TE, he’ll be a touchdown-dependent option at the position. But he can mostly be ignored in fantasy drafts.