I never liked OJ Howard as a 1st rounder. I did not want to over-think him, certainly, because at that position the athletic dynamos tend to rise to the top.
But my argument with him was that everyone where rating him high based on his blocking ability, whereas blocking ability in a tight end tends to be, 1) as erratic in its projection as anything else with a draft prospect, and 2) not really that important in the NFL anymore.
When a guy like Howard is a good blocker there is a tendency for people to say, well, whatever happens with the player overall, THIS is something we know about him. There is no projection here. This is something he has. But that is BS. It is all projection, and it is all subject to error terms.
Howard is a perfect example. Look at his block grades this year. Bad. I tried to tell people that what he seemed to be as a blocker at Bama was a really gifted MOVE blocker, from a floating H-Back position, getting out and using his quick feet to get in front of blockers in space and then allowing his frame, strength, and physicality do the rest. He was NEVER a great attached blocker who was gonna block a DE like an OT and think nothing of it. Watching try and do that against Daeshon Hall of Texas A&M, even setting aside Myles Garrett, was instructive this way. But people insisted he was like, totally awesome as a blocker. So the Buccaneers put too much on his plate, and he did not do so well.
The other thing was as a pass catcher, I just did not see the play making SKILLS. I saw the play making athleticism, strength, and speed, and that is why I kept having to remind myself not to over-think him. But the skills? The stuff that makes you say, man what a football player that guy is? Did not see much.
Not surprised the Buccaneers find themselves in the awkward position of handing out a #1 TE financial commitment to Cameron Brate (a six year, $41 million deal!!) one year after drafting OJ Howard high.
People and Bucs fans may be under the false impression that the Bucs will merely use 2-TE personnel all day. Nobody does that. Not even the Bucs.
The NFL uses “12” personnel only 19% of downs as a league, and the very HIGHEST among teams was the Baltimore Ravens at 34%. The Colts did 28% and the Bucs came in fifth at a mere 24%.
So no, it will not be easy for the Bucs to get their money’s worth out of both Cam Brate and OJ Howard, and yes the financial commitment to Brate reflects that Howard is not necessarily the guy they hoped.
So you ask me if Gesicki stacks up better for me than OJ Howard, and that is an easy answer for me. Yes. Easily. As does Mark Andrews, IMO.
David Njoku is tougher. Njoku DID have a bunch of those natural play making skills in addition to the athleticism. But so does Gesicki. Njoku was also IMO a **** blocker, like Gesicki. I give the edge to the guy with the better SIZE because it can matter. That is Gesicki.
