O.J. And The One-Football Theory
August 11th, 2020
The old Weapons For Winston chant has turned into cries of too many weapons.
It’s been a long time already but Joe remains amazed by all the firepower on the Tampa Bay roster. Joe actually needed medical attention after the Bucs drafted two running backs and signed LeSean McCoy, on the heels of signing Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski.
What team is this?
Logic says one of the powerful weapons assembled won’t be used much at all. (Yes, Joe realizes this logic won’t be realized by those who believe The Sickness will ravage the Bucs roster all season long).
So who is the odd man out? Who will need a trip to Mons Venus if he desires meaningful touches on Dale Mabry Highway?
On Friday, former Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik told the world, via SiriusXM NFL Radio, that O.J. Howard will be the weapon most likely to expect a rough Bucs season. And yesterday, former Bucs guard Ian Beckles echoed the same sentiment during his In The Trenches podcast. Beckles has long been no fan of Howard and doesn’t expect Tom Brady to be, either.
Joe will throw one more esteemed man into the down-on-Howard crowd: birthday boy and Sage of Tampa Bay Sports Ira Kaufman, the JoeBucsFan.com columnist in his 42nd season covering the NFL. Ira is convinced that Cameron Brate will become a Brady favorite.
Joe knows who will be the hot targets this season — whoever Brady chooses.
Regardless, if the Bucs stay free of The Sickness, Joe is confident the Bucs will look to deal a weapon at the trade deadline to help another area of need.
August 11th, 2020 at 1:55 pm
I could care less what Dumbinik has to say. One winning season(and it was meaningless) in his Bucs tenure. If O.J. gets open Brady will find him, end of story!
August 11th, 2020 at 1:56 pm
OJ doesn’t pass the eye test. Yeah he’s fast. Other than the few plays that have been specifically schemed for him, he has putrid production. Its a pretty simple bet to say that he will continue to be average at best, to below average.
August 11th, 2020 at 1:56 pm
New England just let go of a TE. Could some trade be looming here?
August 11th, 2020 at 2:01 pm
Yeah, I agree that O.J. Howard is probably going to be the odd man out and become another Jason Licht BUST. I think we have seen over the past couple of seasons that he has tremendous talent but his attention to details is lacking. That’s something that can not be said about Cameron Brate.
August 11th, 2020 at 2:08 pm
O.J. seems to have a smaller catch radius than Godwin or Evans. That was a big deal last year, but won’t be this year.
If he is willing to throw his weight into blocking, he might have a good year. He could delay a bit out of the backfield and have huge amounts of open space around him.
I think this season will go in phases, Gronk to start, then a rotation of receivers. Everyone will get 5-600 yards.
The problem is next season, too many rookie contracts will be over and cap space is going to be a real problem.
August 11th, 2020 at 3:02 pm
Is there a single Buc fan that believes we need all three……Gronk, Brate & OJ?
It is patently obvious that we need to trade OJ or Brate….therefore we won’t.
August 11th, 2020 at 3:44 pm
@ Tampabaybucfan: tap the breaks a bit. Gronk hasn’t finished a season in a while due to wear and tear. If he comes up lame with say…something a simple as a hamstring pull he could be out for weeks. Having three good TE’s for a QB that LOVES throwing to the TE isn’t a bad thing. NE was popping when the had Gronk and the late Aaron Hernandez. Color me a single Buc fan that believes we need all three.
@ Joe: “Who will need a trip to Mons Venus if he desires meaningful touches on Dale Mabry Highway?” Hahahahaha! Nice one!
August 11th, 2020 at 3:57 pm
28-52 Mark Dominik sure knows personnel. He kept DaQuan “Ready to Roll” Bowers and let Michael Bennett walk. Yes he did. He was the GM and he wasn’t subordinate to anyone when that decision was made. He traded up for Josh Freeman. He paid a guy $16 million to rehab his knee in Tampa and traded premium picks for him when the Jets were going to cut him.
So I don’t really care what Mark Dominik says. His track record speaks for itself and he put the Bucs in a deep hole, of course then Lovie Smith only dug ut wider and deeper.
August 11th, 2020 at 4:25 pm
I think they might be right about OJ. It’s pretty easy to see what happened to OJ last year. He wasnt trusted. Just look at Game1. He single handedly lost us that game basically. Next week, barely in the gameplan.
A player you cant trust dont seem like a Tom Brady guy to me. I like Irv’s prediction of Brate. Solid call.
August 11th, 2020 at 4:31 pm
Tanpa Bay Bucfan…..Look at it as insurance. And look at them as pass catchers not TEs……..you could look at it as we are thin at WR depth but when you factor in TEs that can do a lot in the passing game it gives us good depth for passing weapons………Are you telling me you wouldn’t want Gronk last year when Mike and Chris went out?
August 11th, 2020 at 5:11 pm
tbbf: three is a solid number. Brate had that hip issue and Gronk has missed a bunch of games to injury the last few seasons he’s played.
This is where depth comes in.
In a perfect world all three play all 16 games. But we all know it is hardly a perfect world in the NFL.
Keep them all. I do not want to have to rely in Auclaire as a top TE on this team because some others got hurt..
August 11th, 2020 at 7:26 pm
Agree with Cobraboy-
Also , if Gronk only plays 2 years and Brate will likely be gone after 2 years
Who will be the TE if Howard is traded?
August 11th, 2020 at 10:37 pm
“So who is the odd man out? Who will need a trip to Mons Venus if he desires meaningful touches on Dale Mabry Highway?”
Thank you for laugh!
August 11th, 2020 at 11:37 pm
If the OC or Tom insists on using Juice split out wide like the Chiefs use Kelsey, it could be a different story given his speed. Juice has to show up and impress Tom. Tom is just going to drop back and get to pick his poison. If Rojo can turn around a horrible rookie year, Juice can do the same. He’s shown flashes when plays have been called for him during the Koetter years. But, if the TE isn’t featured in your offense, like last year, then all your TEs disappear automatically. Having two #1, 1,000 Yard, WRs is also a factor.
But Juice has to put the work in like Rojo has done thus far. I think having Gronk and Tom, should push Juice to stop relying on his athleticism and put the work in to be great. He has to study the nuances and learn how to get separation and use his body. And get on those jugs machines!! Maybe then they’d be willing to use him like Kelsey.