O.J. Howard And Blocking
August 26th, 2020
“Powerful” blocker?
If you believe one national NFL scribe who works for an NFL broadcast partner, the Bucs had talked turkey about trading tight end O.J. Howard for over a year.
Now the Bucs flatly deny this; Bucco Bruce Arians did again Monday. Still, there was a whole lot of chatter in league circles about a player who allegedly was not part of any trade talks.
Joe believes even Howard would admit he hasn’t set the NFL on fire like nearly every football fan believed he would as the Bucs’ first-round pick in 2017.
Oh, Howard has shown flashes, but not nearly enough to live up to the expectations. Last year Howard nearly went into a shell as the Bucs seemingly tried to turn him into more of a blocking tight end.
To be fair, the Bucs had offensive line problems on the right side. And the way the Bucs were using their receivers, the Bucs didn’t need Howard to be Anthony Gonzalez.
But as a blocker, Howard was, well, meh, to be polite.
Monday, Arians, while raving about how Howard has looked in practice this summer, had a curious angle about Howard as a blocker when Arians was discussing foot-rubbing tight end Rob Gronkowski.
” … you put him and O.J. over there, that’s two pretty powerful blockers together,” Arians said.
That’s the first time Joe ever heard anyone say Howard was a “powerful” blocker. In fact, Joe never saw anything from Howard like the crushing blocking of four-time Pro Bowl Bucs tight end Jimmie Giles.
Perhaps Arians is trying to boost Howard’s confidence? Arians already praised Howard for being in a good mental frame of mind for training camp, which for Joe offered more questions than answers.
True, Howard is lighting it up this summer. At times, Howard is damn near unstoppable — as a receiving tight end.
Arians’ “powerful” blocker description reminds Joe of an old saying Bill Belicheat often tells his scouts: “Don’t tell me what a guy can’t do, tell me what he can do.”
Howard could be an elite tight end in the passing game. Blocking? Let’s just say Howard is no guard or fullback, unless something has radically changed in the past few months.
August 26th, 2020 at 12:04 am
Arians is full of BS as usual
August 26th, 2020 at 12:52 am
IF JL is planting this information about OJ, as trade-bait > Kudos!
OJ’s brick hands show up at the worst time… i.e. first down or end zone in a real game that counts. OJ looks the part playing in shorts. Incredible athlete. OJ freezes during money moments. TRADE OJ for valuable assets.
August 26th, 2020 at 5:46 am
Lot of question marks for a 1st round TE if you ask me. A “luxury” pick that is less Ferrari and more Hyundai at a time when the Bucs could ill-afford luxury picks.
3 years in, and we’re still asking all the same questions; Can he catch? Can he block? What can he do?
This is his last shot IMO. And frankly, what would the Bucs get for him anyway? A 5th rd pick if their lucky?
August 26th, 2020 at 6:23 am
BA has always propped up players during the offseason. I imagine Howard has improved in pass blocking with Gronk helping him but I would rather place money he is a much better pass catcher – thanks to Brady.
August 26th, 2020 at 7:16 am
I seem to recall Jimmie Giles saying he would love to work with O.J. but has never been asked. Maybe I’m misremembering again.
August 26th, 2020 at 7:54 am
Yeah Clean…Arians is full of Bull. He should have signed Jameis to a 500 mil dollar, 10 year contract. All he needed to do is require Jameis to undergo a brain transplant in the contract, swapping his brain with Bradys, and we would have had GOAT part 2 for a decade.
August 26th, 2020 at 8:24 am
But, according to ESPN, Howard did a great job in one particular area this year. In their 2019 advanced statistics awards, ESPN said that according to the stats, Howard was the league’s best pass-blocking tight end.
August 26th, 2020 at 9:45 am
Next man up to be lambasted and ridiculed for not being a future hall of famer. Go Bucs!
August 26th, 2020 at 10:25 am
That’s mainly what he was used for in college, so it’s not hard to believe he would get good at it in the NfL too. Dude is huge.
August 26th, 2020 at 12:56 pm
Didn’t we just go through this very scenario with a first round talent? You Know Who!
Flashes of talent and moments of WTF!
Coach Parcells said it best, ” Your are what your record says your are!”
August 26th, 2020 at 2:18 pm
Sounds promising, but I gotta see it in a game. So far this dude has been a major disappointment.
August 26th, 2020 at 4:10 pm
Why is it that the people that talk the most BS on here always say that Arians is full of BS? Is it a reflection on who they are more than it is about the Bucs coach (one of my favorite Bucs coaches, by the way)?