Bucs find ways to utilize Howard

TAMPA — The first thing tight end O.J. Howard learned about the NFL is that it’s a job. No more classes to attend, just treatment, meetings, walkthroughs, practice and more meetings. It’s a grind and a much longer season than he was used to at Alabama, even though he played in back-toback national-championship games.

Each day the rookie puts on a different kind of hard hat and goes to work.

“With the time change, it’s dark when I leave for work and dark when I leave to go home,” Howard said.

The jarring thing is how many times defenses have lost track of Howard in broad daylight.

Three times this season, Howard sneaked out of the back of a play-action run fake and found himself all alone on the far side of the field for easy completions, including two touchdowns — 58 yards for his first score against the Giants, 33 yards for a touchdown at Buffalo. He is tied with receiver Mike Evans and tight end Cameron Brate for the club lead with four touchdown receptions heading into today’s game at Atlanta.

“It’s one of those plays where the offensive line is going one way, it’s a misdirection and you sneak out the other way,” Howard said. “Those are some good plays.”

Lately, it seems as if Bucs head coach and play-caller Dirk Koetter is paying more attention to Howard. Against Miami last week, Howard had three catches for 52 yards, including 6-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick.

At 6 feet 6, 251 pounds, with 4.52 speed in the 40-yard dash, Howard is too strong for cornerbacks and too fast and athletic for linebackers or safeties. Because he is the Bucs’ best blocker at tight end, much of his work is done in the run game.

But Koetter had Howard split from the line of scrimmage against Miami, and even ran a tight end screen. Howard scored on the play, a 25-yard catch and run nullified by a holding penalty.

“That was disappointing, but it was cool,” Howard said. “I haven’t run a screen and scored on it since like high school.”

There is more Howard can do and Koetter may be more inclined to let him do so the second half of the season. But Howard had a big learning curve, even as the 19th overall pick in the draft.

In Nick Saban’s groundand-pound Alabama offense, he was under-utilized as a receiver and everybody — including Saban — knew it. But in national championship games he cut Howard loose.

He had five catches for 208 yards and two touchdowns when the Crimson Tide beat Clemson to win the 2015 NCAA championship. Last year in Tampa, he had four receptions for 106 yards and a touchdown in a loss to Clemson.

Koetter knows he can squeeze more from Howard.

“It’s obvious what O.J. can do when he gets the ball in space like that,” Koetter said. “You’ve got to have the right defense and we did.”