TAMPA – There was a time in high school when Devin Culp considered giving up football to focus on basketball.
But his mother Pia made a deal with him: If he stayed true to the sport and continued to catch passes, she would allow him to get a tattoo.
Before his career ended at Gonzaga Prep in Spokane, he helped his team to a 14-0 record and win the state championship.
As a seventh-round pick of the Bucs, it might be a bit more difficult to make his mark on the NFL, but late bloomer Culp is taking on the challenge.
He will have plenty of support. His former Washington Huskies teammate Cade Otton is the leader of the young tight end squad he joined at the Bucs.
In fact, Culp is the sixth former Huskies star on the roster, which also includes receiver Jalen McMillan, who was drafted by the team in the third round.
“I had the great opportunity to meet Vita (Vea) for the first time at the spring football game at the Dub,” Culp said. “Logistically, these guys are all established here in Tampa, so they’re definitely going to be a great help in terms of getting around the city and so forth.”
Finding his place in the Bucs offense won’t be easy. First of all, the Bucs plan to use one tight end and three receivers most of the time in the new offense under coordinator Liam Coen.
Last season, Otton played 94% of the offensive snaps. The Bucs are still trying to find playing time for tight ends Payne Durham and Ko Kieft. Neither of them has more than two years of NFL experience.
“I’ve had some young groups,” said first-year tight ends coach Justin Peelle. “You get them to take matters into their own hands, so to speak, and those have been some of the most fun or best rooms I’ve ever had. It’s like, ‘This is what you’re going to do today,’ and they just take it.”
“You want them to learn from someone, but in this situation, it’s up to you to figure it out. If the position goes well, it’s because of what those guys are doing, not me.”
Culp, 24, is just a year younger than Otton, who he played behind at Washington. He struggled to get on the field his first three seasons and considered transferring to Fresno State. In fact, he never had more than 29 catches in any season at Washington.
Culp, however, had a special flair for the sensational.
Last October, he made an incredible catch while falling backwards to cover Arizona safety Dalton Johnson on a third-and-16 situation and set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Dillon Johnson on the next play in a 31-24 win over the Wildcats.
Culp’s 22-yard helmet catch at the Los Angeles Coliseum against Southern Cal on Nov. 4 was a key play on the Huskies’ path to the national championship game.
Culp finished his 54-game career in Washington with 66 catches for 711 yards and four touchdowns.
Peelle already has a plan to avoid the occasional dropping of routine passes that has caused him problems at times.
“It’s just about building confidence, and a lot of that has to do with focus,” Peelle said. “A lot of it is confidence, and you have to build it in the spring and in training camp and make him realize over time that he has good hands. You see the acrobatic catches; the kid can catch the ball. And you can just build on that.”
At 6’4″ and 235 pounds, Culp is another big target in the red zone with a 4.47-second 40-yard dash speed. He compares his game to big, fast tight ends like David Njoku, Jonnu Smith, Darren Waller and Evan Engram.
“I believe I was drafted here as a route runner primarily because of my speed, drive and athleticism. And I know there could be situations where I can demonstrate that,” Culp said.
Otton, McMillan and the other pack of huskies will be easy to track.
“You know the standard we set for ourselves from our program in Washington,” Culp said. “This is championship-level football. We can do walkthroughs together, go through our playbook together and learn. … That’s how iron sharpens iron.”
