“He’s A Concern”
February 29th, 2020
Morale boost.
Freakish Bucs tight end O.J. Howard has been a head-scratcher for Bucs fans.
A wildly popular luxury pick by the Bucs, Howard looked more like an unused accessory after Bucs coach Dirk Koetter left (a big proponent of using tight ends), within Bucco Bruce Arians’ offense.
Arians tried to turn Howard into a Mark Bavaro-type tight end known more for blocking than as a passing target. Howard suffered in both blocking and targets. It got to the point where it seemed the only thing keeping Howard on the roster was his relatively cheap salary.
So after Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht and Arians treated Jameis at the combine in several frank discussions like two dudes trolling for chicks outside a college bar and left with the last girl to leave the establishment after last call (she will do since we don’t have any options left), the namesake of the “Ira Kaufman Podcast” and special guest co-host Rock Riley noticed the striking difference in the ways Arians and Licht spoke about Howard compared to Mr. Entertainment, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston.
Rock Riley: Did you determine a different demeanor, especially with Jason Licht, when it comes to O.J. Howard? Even Bruce Arians? ‘He’s young, he’s strong.’ He’s been hurt a lot. But they seem to be into keeping O.J. Howard. You getting that feel now ‘Sage,’ a little?
Ira Kaufman: I get that feeling but I am also getting the feeling Rock, and you and I will never prove it, behind closed doors, he’s a concern. He’s a concern. … He’s going to be back for 2020. They know that. And they are trying to pump him up. That is what they are trying to do.
Yes, Joe thinks it is safe to say Howard has been a massive disappointment, especially last year. But a lot of that is on Arians.
Joe thought surely, given evidence of how Arians used Heath Miller when Arians was the offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh, that Arians would work Howard in as a key contributor.
That didn’t happen and Howard’s numbers went way down as a result.
Is some of this on Howard? Of course. Jameis isn’t the only player on offense that has been sloppy with the football.
For Howard to have an impact like you would hope a first-round talent would have, Arians needs to use Howard’s strengths more and Howard has to start taking care of the football too.
February 29th, 2020 at 3:10 pm
Blame Jameis I’m sure it’s his fault just like every TO and the points scored against our defense and the kicker and the oline and the secondary and the crappy running game and the predictable play calling and the heat.
February 29th, 2020 at 3:14 pm
Best thing for OJ is to play with a QB who is on time & on target with quick passes… Brady! Either here in Tampa or up in New England… they’re meant for each other. He’s never going to fully develop playing with Jameis whose last pass as a Buc was to the TE (Brate not OJ) for a pick 6 because he stared down the route and still threw it late.
February 29th, 2020 at 3:14 pm
Ndog, done.
February 29th, 2020 at 3:16 pm
Oj is always open
February 29th, 2020 at 3:22 pm
NDOG “ Blame Jameis I’m sure it’s his fault just like every TO and the points scored against our defense”
Well, 121 points were scored off of Winston turnovers alone…
February 29th, 2020 at 3:25 pm
They’ve got nothing to gain by cutting or disavowing Howard. I think Brice Arians would trade OJ for a day 2 pick or to trade back into the 1st in a heartbeat. Trashing Jameis shrinks his market and improves their leverage. Their discussion of both players is strictly to improve the Bucs’ bargaining position, whether it works or not
February 29th, 2020 at 3:25 pm
You think ….?
The guy O’Terrius Jabari “O. J.” Howard can barely catch and all together run straight ….
Who made the decision to draft this guy so he can be fire.! Passing on tj watt , Dalvin cook etc.
February 29th, 2020 at 3:33 pm
Trade him for a 2nd now while you still can. His role could be filled by a cheap blocking TE like Auclair.
February 29th, 2020 at 3:34 pm
That’s right 951 every TO was 100% Jameis’s fault. He is so horrible that he somehow snapped the ball off his own face, put the ball both in front of OJ and caused it to go behind him and he exhaled each time Gay missed a kick to push it wide. Dang that Jameis once he’s gone we are going to have a perfect team.
February 29th, 2020 at 3:38 pm
@NDOG
Who is the one other quarterback besides Jameis Winston that you have watched and may be available this year that you would be happy with?
Give us one name.
Is it possible that this staff knows more about quarterback play than you?
February 29th, 2020 at 3:51 pm
If the coaches can’t figure out how to use him and get him to play, that is on them.
These coaches screwed up a lot last year. Calling 2 TOs in a row. Lack of knowledge of rules and challenge rules. Easing up and putting the game on a rookie K’s shoulders when not necessary. Bad playcalling early in the year. No running game strategy.
So acting like every failure is on the player is BS.
The coaching is equally a concern.
February 29th, 2020 at 3:54 pm
NDogs panties are in a bunch.
February 29th, 2020 at 4:00 pm
I feel sorry for Ndog. It must be really difficult to be in his shoes. I hope you are ok Ndog!
February 29th, 2020 at 4:00 pm
711 any QB of course cause as we all know without Jameis on this team we are going 17-0 next year cause every issue we had can be contributed to him. And yes Steel my panties are in a bunch an we all know who’s fault it is.
February 29th, 2020 at 4:03 pm
Is not a concern to me if you use him as an offensive weapon not just as a blocker……
By the way ,this is a OK article not a JW article Ndog in case you didn’t notice
February 29th, 2020 at 4:03 pm
They know they should have taken Devin Cook.
February 29th, 2020 at 4:04 pm
See the problem with your argument NDOGG is that it’s not they Winston is the only qb to have this happen to him. You don’t think that happens league wide? I mean, 4 other qbs threw the ball over 600 times just like Winston and all 4 of their ints added up equals 45. Again, don’t they have footballs go off of their receivers hands and wrong routes run and such?
5k yards is great! 33 tds is awesome! But what isn’t awesome is 35 Winston turnovers. Yes, some weren’t his fault. I’ll accept that. I’m not blind. But all qbs have this happen to them.
Again, and let me stress, 4 other qbs threw over 600 times just like Winston and their ints add up to 45. I don’t care about yards when your qb gives up the ball that much!
How many pick 6’s did he have again? How many ints within bucs territory did he have again?
I’m all for bringing Winston back as there isn’t an option who I think is either better than him or a long term fix. I would be open to a contract with 2 yrs guaranteed so the Bucs have time to draft and groom a qb, if need be.
My problem with you (and perhaps a lot of ppl?) is that you totally overlook and blame everyone else for his ints. If you said “you know what, he threw for 5k yards and that’s great but damn man, those ints killed us” I’m sure a lot of ppl would agree with you.
I’m sure if you look at winstons career stats, I’m sure he’s been top per year in qb turnovers since joining the league. Im pretty sure he’s #1 actually.
Anyways, I hope you have a great day, NDOGG. I’m showing respect and having a friendly debate. Not calling names and such.
February 29th, 2020 at 4:07 pm
You are right 951 it’s Jameis’s fault we led the league in penalities had a kicker I’m the bottom 5 in accuracy a d had a bottom 5 running game. He clearly didn’t hand the ball off the right way or give the kicker a pep talk before went onto the field. That dang Jameis he kept us from the second perfect season ever!!!!! Ugh
February 29th, 2020 at 4:18 pm
If they don’t know by now, there’s a significant problem at One Buc Palace and it’s not named “Jameis.”
February 29th, 2020 at 4:21 pm
Damn dog, that triple mocha choco latte grande with extra espresso must of just kicked in. Calm down man. It’s an article about OJ. Joe puts out 3-5 articles on Winston every day for you to rant on. Take a break chief.
February 29th, 2020 at 4:22 pm
He’s fvcking soft!!!
February 29th, 2020 at 4:22 pm
Well, to be fair, have you looked up which qb lead the league in penalties. If you haven’t, you might want to. I do believe that was Winston.
And who brought up kicking? I’m solely focused on the qb and qb turnovers.
“ That dang Jameis he kept us from the second perfect season ever!!!!! Ugh“
Well actually, the first game alone against the niners was a lose due to winstons mistakes. 2 pick 6’s if I remember right and the defense actually scored a td. If I remember right, and correct me if I’m wrong, that means the offense only scored like 10 points in that game. Plz correct me if I’m wrong.
I understand the “bottom 5” run game but again, you’re making excuses for him throwing ints.
Again, 4 other qbs threw for over 600 times LIKE WINSTON and again, their ints added up to 45 TOTAL.
Yes, the kicking sucked and so did the running game. But guess what else sucked?… the qbs turnovers. 35 of them I do believe.
Again, i ask, how many pick 6’s were thrown last yr? How many ints were thrown within bucs territory?
Just answer the simple questions for me plz. You probably won’t bc you never do answer my questions…
February 29th, 2020 at 4:26 pm
You won’t get any answers. In fact, you’re about one more valid question away from being called a racist. Happens every time.
February 29th, 2020 at 4:32 pm
Slugglife: of course he won’t. I’m trying to explain to him if he just said that the 5k yards and 33 tds are great but those 35 turnover, weather are his fault or not, hurt the team and put the defense in a bad spot, ppl would agree with him more. Then build on how much the kicking did indeed suck and how a running game would indeed help Winston out, ppl would probably agree with him.
Winston has talent. There’s no doubt about it. He makes throws that make you shake your head and ask yourself “how’d he do that?” But then he throws balls that make you ask yourself “why’d he do that?”
But again, he won’t answer my questions and if he does, it’ll be with non factual information or he’ll give you the facts and then have an excuse to go along with it
February 29th, 2020 at 4:32 pm
Throw this man the ball he can be a HUGE weapon.
February 29th, 2020 at 4:36 pm
Not sure what percentage of catch and runs he fumbles. Feels like a lot.
February 29th, 2020 at 4:52 pm
Wait, our kicker was top 5 in points. All is forgiven!!! I don’t care what ndogg says. He was top 5 in points scored in the league.
If Winston can be forgiven for his turnovers since he lead the Bucs offense to top 3 in the nfl, we can forgive our kicker. How do you know if the timing was off they threw off the kicks? Maybe it was held wrong? Maybe the wind threw off the kick?
See where I’m going with this, NDOGG?
February 29th, 2020 at 5:11 pm
YES YES it is all Jameis’s fault Peyton Barber ran his route so poorly. He didn’t remind him before the snap to do it correctly. And of course Jameis put a bouncy ball on the football before throwing it to OJ so it would bounce up in the air to get picked. And of course our kicker finished so high in points scored because Jameis could not get the ball in the endzone every time in the redzone. Of course I have answered your question 951, any QB would be better than Jameis. I mean we could bring back Glennon or Gradkowski or heck Chris Chandler. I mean anyone can lead a top 4 scoring offense, l mean let’s be real every TO, holding call, dropped pass, blown blocking assignment, poor play call, false start, delay of game and tipped pass was Jameis’s fault. We could roll out the corpse of Otto Graham and we would be better off than with Jameis!!!
February 29th, 2020 at 5:13 pm
Bro 951 no it wasn’t the wind that made him miss those kicks it was Jameis breathing remember? Come on man you know this team is perfect in every way once Jameis is gone.
February 29th, 2020 at 5:21 pm
Trade him while he’s still has some value.
February 29th, 2020 at 5:28 pm
Who’s Otto graham?
February 29th, 2020 at 5:30 pm
Hope joe and all his cronies go away after they let Winston walk! Its nothing but a bunch of trolling crying babies on joesucksfan.com
February 29th, 2020 at 5:32 pm
The Leftwich offense will be more advanced this year and will hopefully get the tight ends in the mix a little more.
It will also help if we have a QB that can make it past his primary receiver in his progressions. O.J. got open several times and Jameis was too busy staring down his primary receiver to notice.
I think Auclair would make a damn good fullback
February 29th, 2020 at 5:47 pm
Remember when we drove Mike Smith out of town for not utilizing the talent he had? Lovie Smith?
If Belichick and Reid had OJ, they’d be salivating.
February 29th, 2020 at 5:55 pm
Kinda weird to keep blaming coaches, his blocking also was subpar, that was his calling card during the draft.
Whatever happen to players taking advantage of the opportunities they get and that’s exactly what he didnt do. He got plenty of opportunities and didnt take advantage, that’s on Him. At some point looks like Tarzan plays like Jane is gonna be his tag but hope he’s traded before it happens.
February 29th, 2020 at 6:04 pm
Ndog, I disagree with you. Most of the TOs and bad play is on Jameis; I’m with you there. But you need to be fair.
February 29th, 2020 at 6:11 pm
Who’s Otto Graham?
Priceless
February 29th, 2020 at 6:46 pm
trade howard for draft capital and restructure brate
February 29th, 2020 at 7:27 pm
The best nickname you guys have ever come up with was calling OJ MJ with his stupid behind the back pass right into demario Davis’ hands.
February 29th, 2020 at 8:19 pm
Believe we were offered a 2nd for OJ last season, but now I would say we would be lucky to get a 3rd. He does not seem to love football in my opinion.
February 29th, 2020 at 8:23 pm
Some “fans” keep saying lack of running game is just an excuse, but when Drew Brees was leading in passing every year the Saints mostly went 7-9. When The Saints decided to be more balanced 50/50 pass run offense they have been almost unstoppable the last few years.
February 29th, 2020 at 9:16 pm
If he’s still on his rookie contract then it doesn’t make sense to flush him away. This offensive play calling rarely targets the TE’s regularly. Now that Perriman is gone, maybe they’ll use the TE exclusively in the slot, which will give them more targets. The battle now should be between Brate, and Howard. If Howard is better on a cheap rookie contract that should put Brate on the bubble because of the money. Unless Tom Brady comes aboard, then Brate and Howard could become the center piece of our offense. But, Licht is in love with Jameis, so I expect JW back at his monetary demands. Ironically Jameis’s demands just negatively impact the teams ability to continue to buy weapons for Jameis, but that’s just another episode in “As the Stomach Churns”
February 29th, 2020 at 9:51 pm
For the people that want to trade OJ, what do you think his trade value is? Would you take a 3rd Rounder for him? I’m guessing that’s what his value is around the league, with the injuries and ineffective play. I’d rather see what he can do this year than trade him for a 3rd.
February 29th, 2020 at 10:04 pm
Looks like Tarzan plays like Jane.
February 29th, 2020 at 10:38 pm
You trade Brate & move his $6M off the books…Good pass catching TE – but bad fit for BA’s offense, great teammate, smart player…Just salary doesn’t align w/ TE touches. ($6M for a good Vet is not crazy, just not in BA’s offense.)
You keep Howard …Slide him off-the-edge & lined up in the slot a little more to create size/match-up problems. This will add up to OJ getting a few more quality touches earlier in per games – building his confidence & allowing 2020 to be his breakout year.
February 29th, 2020 at 11:13 pm
In retrospect Howard was a bad pick, but I was fine with him being taken, so I won’t complain about it. What pi$$es me off is that we compound the mistake by not trading this guy while he is still worth something.
March 1st, 2020 at 1:58 am
I don’t understand why Arians wants to take a guy who is basically an oversized WR and a match-up nightmare and turn him into an inline blocker – it made no sense, in particular as the team had no depth at 3rd WR all season long (Perriman only came on once Evans was hurt, then Godwin). I mean it’s hard to argue with production, last year was easily the best offense in team history and scored the most points in team history – but if they had used OJ better, there’s no reason to think they couldn’t have even been better.
Then again, between him and Brate, they had a ton of crucial drops and caused a lot of INTs – so if Arians wasn’t looking at their history, what he probably saw was two incompetent guys.
March 1st, 2020 at 9:06 am
You guys let Ndog and Tmax work you up. These fools don’t really believe what they post on here. They just type for the reactions. Just look how irrational and idiotic their posts are.
March 1st, 2020 at 6:08 pm
year Team Catches Yards TDs OJ Howard so I Expected Better but the Offense went threw MIke an CG who Both made ProBowl TE just wasn’t a factor in the offense last year even when Mike an CG were out they still didn’t focus on getting TE the ball he will be fine an have a strong comeback year I mean I think they have to use him a lot more he is a Mis Match in Endzone he runs a 4.5 LBs should not beable to cover O.J. get him envolved
2019 TB 34 459 1
2018 TB 34 565 5
2017 TB 26 432 6