Update On O.J. Howard
October 14th, 2018
Update.
UPDATED 2:23 a.m. – News concerning Bucs tight end O.J. Howard has surfaced.
Coming from no less an authority than Adam Schefter of BSPN, it appears Howard will play today against the Dixie Chicks.
Joe suspects this means the Bucs will air it out even more than they already had planned to do.
On his Buccaneers Radio Network show Friday, Dirk Koetter said,”We’re hopeful that O.J. will be a big contributor on Sunday. .. We’re thankful it wasn’t as bad as originally thought, or O.J.’s a fast healer.”
Howard sprained his knee against the Bears two weeks ago and left the game.
October 14th, 2018 at 1:05 am
I hope we get ahead fast get a huge lead some nice defensive stops and a get a nice ground and pound going with Barber and RoJo and sit Matty ice on the bench while we control Time of possession man wouldn’t that be nice for a change? But as long as we win even by 1 point I’ll be happy with that as well.
October 14th, 2018 at 1:18 am
Always confused me why pay Bratz 7 million a year, don’t get wrong he’s a heck of a player, but he’s in the way of OJ reaching his unlimited potential, and those resources could’ve been better spent on a RT or CB, just like keeping VJAX at 12 mil when everyone knew he was toast, and keeping Doug at 7 mil, it’s really poor team construction
October 14th, 2018 at 1:19 am
And it’s been happening for years, Licht is just ok at drafting but team building is horrible time for a change
October 14th, 2018 at 1:43 am
@Guzzie,
It’s a luxury to have 2 TEs that are equally good. They just need to use more 2 TE sets and create a matchup nightmare for other teams. Also, if we had a smart HC/OC, he would use 2 TE Jumbo sets on obvious short yardage running plays including the Redzone.
Brate is young compared to VJax and Doug. Instead of letting Brate go for a CB or RT (I think RG is more important as Benenoch is in over his head), why not GMC or Adam Humphries? We have DJax, Godwin, and Justin Watson who could all play the Z or Slot positions. Vita Vea and surprisingly Gholston will handle as much of or more than what GMC gives us on the stat sheet.
October 14th, 2018 at 2:18 am
Joe… was this a drunk post?
This is definitely a drunk comment so, no judgement man.
October 14th, 2018 at 5:07 am
@Lambchop … “Vita Vea and surprisingly Gholston will handle as much of or more than what GMC gives us on the stat sheet.” Vea isn’t really a 3-technique like GMC, but it looks like he can fill that role on rotational. Gholston in the interior (DT) is a prescription for disaster. He got exposed against the Bears in case you didn’t notice (not enough beef).
‘Fans’ dramatically underrate what GMC brings to this team (making yourself the ‘face of the defense’ doesn’t help when your defense all-too-often performs as badly as ours has). I keep hearing the same hogwash: ‘He gets injured too much’ or ‘He doesn’t show up when it counts’ or ‘He doesn’t make splash plays’. HORSEPUCKEY!
Take a good look at 2017 (ya, but disregard our 5-11 record for the time being … that’s a TEAM stat). GMC played in 15 games …and started all 15. Our defense was on the field for 1,011 plays by the opposing offenses … GMC was on the field for 806 of those (almost exactly 80% and he missed 1 game). Of note, our other DTs all averaged less than 50%.
Impact plays? GMC had 24 QB Hits in 2017 (led the team BY FAR in that category).
o Had 13 Tackles for Loss (led the team BY FAR in that category too).
o Had 6 sacks (off year for him, but he still led the team in that category too).
o Had 47 combined tackles (33 solo) … average of 3 per game is quite decent when the other teams prefer to pass against ya).
MR SOFTIE? Not hardly. And GMC’s produced numbers like those consistently, year-in and year-out. Would his production be easily replaced? Not really. Is he worth $12 mil a year? Not my money … not my call. But I do agree with Guzzie … “Licht is just ok at drafting but team building is horrible.” Now that GMC has passed 30, and with the Bucs facing some mammoth $$$ increases next year, we may have no choice but to either renegotiate GMC’s contract or move on.
October 14th, 2018 at 5:38 am
UPDATED 2:23 a.m. – News concerning Bucs tight end O.J. Howard has surfaced.
I read this and had a sinking feeling it was good to include something about Uber, out having to take a great big duece.
October 14th, 2018 at 6:24 am
I like having two top notch starting TEs…..what if one goes down to injury? With two you don’t have that much of a concern.
With Howard for example, if there were the slightest problem with his knee, he’d be benched because Brate is fully capable of contributing.
October 14th, 2018 at 9:14 am
Nice work, Joe. This is the very first site that I go to when I wake up in the morning. You the man, Joe !!!!!!
October 14th, 2018 at 10:06 am
@Defense Rules,
My point is to get value for GMC before his value becomes 0. He does a lot of things, but he doesn’t take a game over or cause game-changing plays. For whatever reason. He’s just not dominant on a consistent basis and my point is we have got the best of his career at this point. I would rather get some value from him by way of a trade. We can get technical all we want, but he doesn’t create turnovers or collapse the pocket enough the way Aaron Donald, Fletcher Cox, Sapp used to, etc. I mean there are players that aren’t at the level that Fletcher Cox and Aaron Donald are on that are disrupting offenses. Just being GMC is not enough any more when you got a defense that is looking for a soul. He’s got heart playing through injuries and all that. His teammates probably love him, but I’m of the opinion that we floundered away his prime with bad coaching and bad teammates. Better to just get a player at another position that can make an impact and right now the CBs need a major upgrade.
He’s not the only one though, Kwon and Lavonte need to step their game up as well.
October 14th, 2018 at 11:46 am
@Lambchop … “My point is to get value for GMC before his value becomes 0.” I have a lot of difficulty seeing the Bucs keeping GMC at $12 mil next year at age 31 (too many other competing needs). Allen & Vea can form the interior DLine nucleus, but that still leaves us at least 1 DT short (more likely 2 DT short). And BOTH of those DTs have already missed quite a bit of time this year. What happens if that’s repeated next year?
You mentioned Fletcher Cox & Aaron Donald, but beastly DTs like that are the exception, not the rule in the NFL AND both of them were drafted in the 1st round. Seriously doubt the Bucs would invest ANOTHER 1st round pick in a DT (back to the ‘so many other competing needs’ thingie). Bummer.