But on Saturday night, coach Damien Hardwick was happy to declare that's no longer the case.
The Tigers blew the Western Bulldogs away in the second half at Etihad Stadium, recording a rock-solid 60-point win on Saturday night.
Deledio fought hard to shake the tag of his shadow in Liam Picken to grab 25 touches, while Cotchin ground his way to 17 disposals.
Neither was a dominant figure in the Tigers' victory.
But it was the even spread of disposals - Bachar Houli (25), Daniel Jackson (23), Dustin Martin (23), Reece Conca (21) and Shaun Grigg (21) all contributed - that Hardwick nominated as the most satisfying factor in the win.
"That's what we've sort of enjoyed at the moment," he said.
"People often say that Trent Cotchin's disposals and Deledio's disposals have gone down, but that's what good sides do.
"We're not reliant on those guys any more."
Hardwick believes there is plenty of improvement awaiting his side, grading his team's efforts over the last few weeks at a seven out of 10.
The Tigers sit 8-4 with some very winnable games against St Kilda, North Melbourne and Gold Coast to come in the next few weeks.
However, they may need to carry on their sparkling form without key defender Troy Chaplin who twisted his left knee in the final term against the Bulldogs.
Hardwick said the club would await the results of scans during the week, but first thoughts were that he had escaped serious injury.
It is the same knee that had given Chaplin grief during the pre-season.
"Structurally, we think he's fine. We've just got to work our way through, whether he twisted his knee or not we're not too sure."
"He seems to think he'll be fine, but we'll need to get some tests during the week."
Jake Batchelor, Ben Griffiths and Todd Elton are those waiting in reserve if Chaplin is sidelined.
Hardwick said Chaplin's impact since arriving as a free-agent from Port Adelaide in the off-season could not be underestimated.
"He's been one of those guys you can't measure. His leadership, his ability to get body on players is phenomenal.
"He's got some of the best body work I've seen. He makes our back six better. He makes players around him better."
Ben Guthrie is a reporter for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_BenGuthrie
