The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a quarterback in Baker Mayfield who has shown he can thrive when paired up with an elite tight end. He did it in college at Oklahoma with Mark Andrews and on the Cleveland Browns with David Njoku.
One thing the Buccaneers haven’t had in 2 seasons with Mayfield? An elite tight end.
ESPN’s Jordan Reid thinks that will change next year, projecting the Buccaneers to draft Michigan tight end Colston Loveland in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft at No. 28 overall.
“Yes, Loveland’s numbers are down this season (29 catches for 261 yards and two scores) with some inconsistent quarterback play in Ann Arbor,” Reid wrote. “And yes, he has dealt with injuries this year. But Loveland is still viewed as the top player at the position in the 2025 class, and he’d be a favorite of Baker Mayfield in Tampa Bay. Loveland is a smooth route runner with good hands. I could see him bringing an added dimension to the Bucs’ offense as a flexed-out tight end.”
Loveland Widely Regarded as CFB’s Elite Tight End
Loveland was an instant contributor for Michigan as a true freshman in 2022 and turned into a star in 2023 as he helped lead the Wolverines to an undefeated season and the College Football Playoff national championship.
In 2023, Loveland earned All-Big Ten honors with 45 receptions for 659 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns in 15 games, including 3 receptions for 64 yards in the national championship game against Washington.
PFF’s Max Chadwick ranked Loveland as the nation’s top collegiate tight end headed into the 2024 season.
“Loveland went from a promising freshman to one of the nation’s best tight ends as a sophomore,” Chadwick wrote. “He finished as the fourth-most valuable FBS tight end this past season according to PFF’s wins above average metric and was fifth among them in receiving yards (649). Loveland’s elite athleticism at 6-foot-5, 245 pounds makes him nearly unguardable. His 88.7% open-target rate in 2023 placed him in the 97th percentile for all tight ends in the country.”
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Where Buccaneers Currently Sit at Tight End
Tampa Bay’s current starting tight end, Cade Otton, is third on the Buccaneers with 19 receptions for 136 yards and 1 touchdown, but he’s more durable than uber-talented — he’s played in all 39 games with the Buccaneers and has made 25 consecutive starts — but he isn’t a game changer.
If the Buccaneers were to take Loveland where they’re projected to, it would be just the second time in franchise history a tight end was taken in the first round.
The only other time it’s happened was when Tampa Bay selected Alabama tight end O.J. Howard at No. 19 overall in the 2017 NFL draft. Howard seemed like he was on the verge of becoming one of the NFL’s best tight ends through his first 3 seasons and had a career-high 34 receptions for 565 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2018.
The Buccaneers picked up the fifth-year option on Howard’s rookie contract in April 2020 but he tore his Achilles tendon in Week 4 of that season — one in which the Buccaneers went on to win the Super Bowl — and was never the same player. As of Week 7 of the 2024 regular season, Howard hadn’t played in the NFL since spending 2022 with the Houston Texans.
