Tag: Payne Durham

Bucs TE Payne Durham leaves practice with knee injury

Bucs tight end Payne Durham left practice Wednesday with a knee injury

 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Payne Durham left joint practice with the Jacksonville Jaguars with an apparent knee injury, per multiple reports.

The Bucs are running tests on the injury, and there’s still no update on the severity (via team senior writer Scott Smith).

Durham is entering his second year with the Bucs and is looking to expand his role on offense. Last year, he saw limited action, catching just five passes on seven targets for 58 yards.

Cade Otton is expected to return as Tampa Bay’s starting tight end, and the Bucs are also bringing back 2022 sixth-round pick Ko Kieft, who is primarily used as a blocker. An extended absence by Durham would open an opportunity for 2024 seventh-round pick Devin Culp to make a case for the final roster.

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Bucs 2024 training camp preview: Tight end

What does the Bucs’ tight end group look like heading into training camp?

The tight end position in Tampa Bay has been a bit of an afterthought since the retirement of Rob Gronkowski in 2022, devoting few resources to the position over the last few years. This year’s training camp will be the first in several years where the group will be comprised mostly of experienced players and will rely on growth and consistency rather than new talent.

This will be Cade Otton’s third year with the Bucs and once again he will be the workhorse of the tight end group. Last year he dominated the snap shares in the group, playing 1063 snaps against 383 from the rest of the Bucs’ tight ends.

Though his receiving stats are not gaudy and he is just an adequate blocker, Tampa Bay’s coaching staff trusts Otton to play a part in every aspect of the offense. Despite having just two seasons under his belt, Otton will be a veteran presence at camp.

Fellow 2022 draft pick Ko Kieft has not been a featured player since joining the Bucs roster, operating mostly as a run blocker when he does see the field. Of all the returning tight ends, his future is most in doubt, though not from team design.

Kieft was the only player that head coach Todd Bowles indicated may not be healthy at the start of training camp. Kieft’s experience will buy him some goodwill from the Bucs’ staff, but his limited utility could make him expendable if his health issues linger.

The returning tight end with some unrealized upside is Payne Durham. The Bucs’ 2023 fifth-round pick has more prototypical size for a tight end than anyone else on the roster, which made him a big target for Baker Mayfield at times last season.

However, Durham struggled with drops, a major concern given his limited opportunities. If he is going to loosen Otton’s grip on the tight end reps in Tampa Bay, Durham has earn the confidence of Mayfield and the Bucs coaching staff with sure hands.

The Bucs did add one tight end this offseason, taking Washington TE Devin Culp with their last pick in the draft. Culp is built in the mold of modern tight ends. He is smaller at 6’3″ and 231 pounds but supremely athletic for his size, recording the top 40 time among tight ends at this year’s NFL Combine.

Buried on Washington’s depth chart behind a cavalcade of now-NFL receivers like teammate Jalen McMillan, Culp had few opportunities to express his talent as a receiver before now. Culp will be among a handful of young players vying to establish himself as a dynamic and reliable target in the Bucs offense.

Like most rookies, Culp’s path to the final roster will be special teams, which he did play at Washington. While he is unlikely to crack the Bucs’ tight end rotation this year, Culp could make the investment worthwhile if he can make it through camp and earn a roster spot by the end of camp.

At the tail of the tight end depth chart are David Wells and Tanner Taula. Wells was a surprising standout at last year’s training camp, so much so that he managed to spend some time on the main roster during the season. However he is entering his seventh NFL season and comes with no real upside.

Taula also had a good camp last year, earning him a place on the practice squad. Unless he makes a major leap forward as a receiver, he is likely to be in a similar position by the end of camp this year.

The worst offensive players in Tampa Bay’s win over Atlanta, per PFF

These five offensive players were PFF’s lowest-graded in their Week 14 grades for Tampa Bay.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense may have put up 27 points, but it wasn’t a strong performance all the way through.

The offense had a successful final drive to get the win on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons 29-25, but it was a bit of a bumpy road to get there. The offense had eight punts on the day and only really came alive toward the back half of the matchup, and while the run game was good all day and helped move things along, the passing game generally suffered over the day as a whole. Pro Football Focus graded every Bucs offensive player that took snaps, and while some turned in high marks, others didn’t come in quite as well regarded.

Here are the five lowest-graded players on offense by PFF from Week 14:

The worst offensive players in Tampa Bay’s loss to Buffalo, per PFF

These five offensive players didn’t score high in PFF’s grades for Thursday’s game.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense played a bit better than it did against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 7, but it still didn’t perform to a winning standard on Thursday night.

The team lost 24-18 to the Buffalo Bills, and the offense wasn’t able to put a consistent performance together. A last-minute drive was able to put the game within six, but them middle frame saw Tampa Bay struggle overall and fail to capitalize on chances given to them by the Bills. Pro Football Focus graded every offensive player in Thursday’s lost, and some of those players may be a part of the problem if their grades are any indication.

Here are the five worst offensive players from PFF’s Thursday grades”

Bucs sign five 2023 draft picks

The Bucs’ first three draft picks remain unsigned.

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced the signing of five of their 2023 draft picks, including fifth-round picks LB SirVocea Dennis and TE Payne Durham and sixth-round picks CB Josh Hayes, WR Trey Palmer and EDGE Jose Ramirez. This leaves their first three picks of the 2023 draft, DT Calijah Kancey, OG Cody Mauch and EDGE YaYa Diaby, still unsigned.

The newly signed rookies are unlikely to impact the Bucs’ cap space in a meaningful way. Cap calculations are cut off after the top 51 salaries, and with rookies making as little as $750,000, they may not make that cutoff prior to preseason roster cuts.

With the majority of their 2023 draft picks coming in rounds five and six, the Bucs have locked up their depth and developmental prospects from this class. While the key draft picks are still unsigned, the Bucs are closer to season readiness.

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Bucs TE Payne Durham tabbed as Day 3 pick that could make impact

The former Purdue Boilermaker could adjust well at the NFL level.

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have one of the youngest tight end rooms in the NFL. Could one of those tight ends make a big splash in 2023?

The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner put together a list of potential Day 3 draft picks from 2023 that could make an immediate impact for their teams, and Tampa Bay TE [autotag]Payne Durham[/autotag] was one of the players in question. Durham will join a tight end room with second-year tight ends Cade Otton and Ko Kieft, and Baumgardner thinks Durham could stand out among the two.

Here is what he wrote about Durham:

Outside of his frame (6-5, 253, 33 3/8-inch arms), there is nothing flashy about Durham. He’s not that fast; he doesn’t have much wiggle; if he averages 10 yards per reception, you’re probably doing OK with him. But if you throw him the ball 75 times, he’ll probably catch 70 of them. Durham has powerful hands, a great frame, and he understands the finer points of football, which allows him to give QBs friendly throwing windows over and over again.

Durham is a solid blocker who can be a dependable, team-first chain-mover in the NFL. He’s a three-down prospect who likely will start as a TE2, but there is TE1 potential here. Known at Purdue as a tone-setter because of the way he worked, Durham won’t get bullied as a run blocker in training camp — a lot of rookie TEs do.

Tight end is notoriously one of the tougher positions to adjust to at the NFL level, but Durham has the football IQ to make it work. As mentioned, his physicals are nothing to write home about, but he has dependable hands and knows his way around blocking schemes. He also has a nose for the endzone — in 2022, he caught eight touchdowns on 56 targets.

While Durham may not start in 2023 over Otton, he could carve out a niche in Tampa Bay that could give whoever is under center for the Bucs a nice red zone target to go after.

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The total rundown on new Bucs TE Payne Durham

Here’s what you need to know about Tampa Bay’s newest tight end.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ran with receiving TE Cade Otton and blocking TE Ko Kieft during the 2022 NFL season, but the team spent a fifth-round pick to bring a new TE to the fold.

Check out the rundown on Purdue’s [autotag]Payne Durham[/autotag] down below:

Height: 6’6″

Weight: 253 pounds

Age: 22

Hometown: Suwanee, Georgia

Scouting Report (Dane Brugler, The Athletic): “A four-year starter at Purdue, Durham was the Y tight end in former head coach Jeff Brohm’s spread offense, splitting his snaps between the slot (57.2 percent) and inline (39.4 percent). A four-year lacrosse player in high school, he returned to football his senior year at Peachtree Ridge High School, and his production improved each of his five seasons with the Boilermakers. Although his routes tend to be rigid and upright, Durham is a long-striding athlete with good foot quickness and impressive body control to win with size and adjust to throws behind/above him. As a blocker, he needs to rely more on leverage and hand techniques to sustain, but he is physical and strong with the upside to become a dependable NFL blocker. Overall, Durham has average-at-best speed and separation skills, but he creates a large throwing target for his quarterback and enjoys the dirty work at the position. He has the skill set of a solid No. 2 tight end option in the NFL, similar in ways to Jesse James.”

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Player highlights

Instant analysis of Tampa Bay’s Payne Durham pick

TE Payne Durham is an effective red zone threat with a blocking pedigree to match, but his lack of athleticism could be a concern at the next level.

Payne Durham was a notable weapon for the Purdue Boilermakers, but it will be interesting to see where he fits in Tampa Bay.

Durham caught 8 touchdowns in 2022 for 560 yards, solidifying himself as a notable red zone threat. He also has a lot of strength as a run blocker on the line, offering a versatile skillset for a tight end that any NFL team could use. He’s tough to bring down and plays with a mean streak Tampa Bay is sure to appreciate.

His athleticism could be a problem at the next level, however. He ran a 4.87 in the 40-yard dash and has a little trouble getting separation, so that may come back to haunt him at the NFL level.

Overall, Durham is a solid pick that will need to carve a niche for himself between blocking TE Ko Kieft and receiving TE Cade Otton.

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Bucs select Purdue TE Payne Durham with pick No. 171

The Bucs trade up a few spots and get a tight end to add to the offense.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have selected Purdue TE Payne Durham with the No. 171 pick.

Durham was a notable blocker at Purdue and was a decent red zone threat, scoring eight touchdowns on 560 yards. He mostly operated as a Y-tight end and occasionally out of the slot, and he found good value at Purdue run-blocking on the line.

He’ll join a tight end room with receiving TE Cade Otton and blocking TE Ko Kieft, and it will be interesting to see where he falls in 2023.

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2023 NFL draft mock: Selecting players who have met with the Bills

Our @jdiloro puts together a mock draft for the #Bills consisting only of players we’ve heard the team has met with… a tough task:

The 2023 NFL draft is only a handful of days away. The number of mock drafts floating in cyberspace is too numerous to count.

Here’s another one. 

However, this mock draft will focus on players whom the Bills have reportedly met with over the past three months. These meetings could take place in a variety of ways: in private workouts, at the Senior Bowl, at the combine, via virtual meetings, or at Pro Days.

Special note: We know that the Bills have done their research and scrutinized many more prospects than those who are on this list. Nevertheless, the team must have some level of interest in a player if Buffalo has reportedly visited with specified prospects in some capacity. 

The projected draft round is a general idea of where the player is expected to be selected. As anyone who follows the draft knows, it’s far from an exact science. The prospect pool reflects players who have reportedly met with the Bills as of Tuesday prior to the draft

Without further ado, here is a mock draft focusing on players who have reportedly visited or met with the Bills ahead of the 2023 NFL draft: