Buccaneers HC Dirk Koetter called TE Cameron Brate his starter Wednesday, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. Koetter reportedly said Brate deserves the job "because he's making plays and run blocking has improved." That doesn't necessarily mean that the situation is set for the regular season, but it follows an offseason of negative buzz for 3rd-year TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins. There's lots of athletic upside to the former 2nd-round pick, but ASJ has lost 16 games to injury over 2 seasons and apparently failed to mature. We'll see if this lights a fire, but we're moving Seferian-Jenkins even further down our TE rankings until he gives us a reason to believe.

The Bucs released TE Cameron Brate. The 31-year-old has been 1 of the least efficient TEs in the NFL over the past 2 seasons, turning 95 targets into just 419 yards and 4 TDs. He missed 6 games with a concussion and neck injury last year. We'll see if Brate keeps playing in 2023, but he's fallen off the fantasy radar.

Bucs TE Cameron Brate is a healthy scratch for today's game vs. the Panthers. It's not a major surprise after the 31-year-old played just 8 snaps last week. Brate's absence is a slight boost to TE Cade Otton's fantasy stock. TEs Kyle Rudolph and Ko Kieft are also active for Tampa.

Bucs TE Cameron Brate (illness) put in a full week of practice and isn’t listed on the final injury report. He’ll be back for Sunday’s game vs. the 49ers. Brate isn’t a fantasy option, but his return knocks TE Cade Otton out of consideration.

Bucs TE Cameron Brate (illness) was a full participant in Wednesday's practice. He should be back for this weekend's game vs. the 49ers, which would knock TE Cade Otton out of fantasy consideration.

Bucs TE Cameron Brate (illness) is inactive for tonight's game vs. the Saints. TEs Cade Otton, Kyle Rudolph and Ko Kieft are active for Tampa. Otton is the best fantasy bet of the trio, but this is a brutal matchup against the league's top-ranked TE defense.