Devin

Culp

Tampa Bay also waived/released WR Dean Patterson, WR Eric Rivers, DL Jayson Jones, S Rashad Wisdom, S Xavier Williams, S Rob McDaniel, and DT Josiah Green. A 2024 seventh-round pick, Culp appeared in 13 games last year. He only caught one ball, but it was a six-yard touchdown. He is expected to sign with the Bucs’ practice squad if he makes it through waivers.

With Cade Otton (knee) unavailable, it was Culp who scored the first touchdown of the season for a Tampa Bay tight end. It’s reasonable to wonder if it’ll be the last. Culp has impressive athleticism, but is miles and miles away from fantasy relevancy at this stage of his career.

While Culp (6’3/231) has been a Washington Huskie for six seasons, he redshirted in 2018 and did not see an offensive touch in 2019. Most of his college production came from 2021-2023, catching 16 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns for the Pac-12 champion Huskies in 2023. At the NFL Combine, Culp ran a 4.47 40-yard dash, the fastest amongst tight ends. He struggled with drops in college but was able to make contested catches and has the athleticism to stick in an NFL tight end room. He’ll compete for a TE2 role in Tampa.

This will be the second consecutive game that Otton (6'5/250) will miss, as he also sat out the Huskies’ September 25 win over Cal. As a result of the redshirt junior being sidelined, Devin Culp becomes a player of greater importance to Washington. Starting for Otton, whose run of 30 consecutive starts came to an end, Culp caught five passes for 81 yards.

Culp did not suit up to play in either of Washington’s past two games. It is not clear why exactly Culp (6'3/255) missed time, but it’s good for the Huskies that they will gain some depth back at the position this week. Culp hardly played in 2019, though partly due to a suspension, so it is tough to gauge how much work he could be due for against Utah.

Culp did not really play in 2019, in part because of a suspension, but could have seen more time in 2020. While that still may be true, we will not know until later in the year. Culp, according to Caple, is not out there suited up for warm ups and likely will not play against Oregon State.

Culp (6'3/262), who along with sophomore OL Henry Bainivalu was suspended for Saturday’s season opener, will be available for next week’s Pac-12 opener against California. The redshirt freshman, who did not appear in a game last season, will give the Huskies additional depth at tight end behind starter Hunter Bryant. Bainivalu will miss two more games before being able to return to action.