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TE O.J. Howard, Raiders (1 Viewer)

TwinTurbo said:
This is the type of change that would have been extremely valuable to know before kickoff, so I would avoid Fitz and OJ in DFS. Koetter was awful last season calling plays and somehow managed to pull off a historic loss gaining 500 yds and only 3 pts. Meanwhile the Saints had 500 yds and scored 51 pts. Please hand it back to Monken.
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I mean this in the nicest possible way, but some of you guys are majorly overthinking and over-coaching your teams.

OJ Howard had one super low volume game. They happen sometimes, especially to TEs. I know we all want to point to a villain when our players under-perform but this isn’t about Koetter, it’s more about randomness. Howard is a very good player. Start him regardless of who is calling the plays, don’t overthink it.

Also while I agree that Monken is the better playcaller, to suggest that Koetter is at fault for last week’s redzone struggles is pretty laughable. The offense moved the ball well all game. And there were several wide open receivers in the end zone, Fitzpatrick and the rest of the offense just had an off day executing.

 
Previous 4 games prior to his clunker last week:

* 4-62-1

* 5-67-0

* 4-68-1

* 4-53-2

Let's hope we revert back to this trend vs. start a new (crappy) trend.

For the love of god, I just need a non 0 to 3 point outing out of my TE this week. Give me 4-50-0 and I'll be jumping for joy.

 
electric Ape said:
I mean this in the nicest possible way, but some of you guys are majorly overthinking and over-coaching your teams.

OJ Howard had one super low volume game. They happen sometimes, especially to TEs. I know we all want to point to a villain when our players under-perform but this isn’t about Koetter, it’s more about randomness. Howard is a very good player. Start him regardless of who is calling the plays, don’t overthink it.

Also while I agree that Monken is the better playcaller, to suggest that Koetter is at fault for last week’s redzone struggles is pretty laughable. The offense moved the ball well all game. And there were several wide open receivers in the end zone, Fitzpatrick and the rest of the offense just had an off day executing.
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My comments were related to DFS, not season long. There's no overthinking it. Had I known beforehand that Koetter was calling plays, I would have insta-dumped every single Fitz/OJ lineup last week. His predictable, vanilla play calling is the opposite of what you need to cash in tournaments. Redskins D is good so they deserve some credit, but the Bucs were like 0 for 8 in the redzone. That's almost entirely on Koetter since the Skins knew what was coming. If he calls plays again, the Giants D is the DFS play of the week. 

 
TwinTurbo said:
My comments were related to DFS, not season long. There's no overthinking it. Had I known beforehand that Koetter was calling plays, I would have insta-dumped every single Fitz/OJ lineup last week. His predictable, vanilla play calling is the opposite of what you need to cash in tournaments. Redskins D is good so they deserve some credit, but the Bucs were like 0 for 8 in the redzone. That's almost entirely on Koetter since the Skins knew what was coming. If he calls plays again, the Giants D is the DFS play of the week. 
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Gotcha. I misunderstood and agree that DFS is different. I'm not sure that I put quite as much fault in Koetter for last week but I take your point. In DFS there is zero reason to start a player when you have doubts / concerns 

 
electric Ape said:
Gotcha. I misunderstood and agree that DFS is different. I'm not sure that I put quite as much fault in Koetter for last week but I take your point. In DFS there is zero reason to start a player when you have doubts / concerns 
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Yeah in season long, I have one Fitz/OJ team and will keep starting them and hope for the best. In DFS, I am fading every Bucs player except for D.Jackson. 

 
Rotoworld doesn't seem to think it's serious: http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/12161/oj-howard

O.J. Howard caught 5-of-6 targets for 78 yards in the Bucs' Week 11 loss to the Giants.

The Giants have struggled against tight end of the year, so it wasn't shocking to see Howard get back on track. He was being checked on the sideline by trainers for a brief period during the team's final drive, so there was actually room for an even bigger day had he stayed on the field. He'll be a TE1 again next week against the Niners. 
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He was my backup tight end who I flexed at times too. Needed him this week to cover Kelce bye week. Now gotta figure out if I drop him for another tight end or hold him in case

 
Yeah HAS still seems speculative.  There is only one source for that and it's a tweet that starts with "based on the video...".

 
Injured reserve.

Great.

Traded for OJ Howard for Gronk insurance. Now have to make a run at Brate and Herndon. 

 
Very disappointed for the young man. Was having an excellent season, too.

Also seems like a good guy, never seems to make a fuss on the field. 

 
Should us owners be concerned?  We all know how little he used the TE in Arizona.

NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reports "all signs point" toward Bruce Arians being the next head coach of the Bucs.

Rapsheet has been beating this drum for over 24 hours now. He reports the sides have yet to begin talking contract, but it seems things will wrap up in relatively short order. 66-year-old Arians' latest retirement lasted one season.

 
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Boone22 said:
Should us owners be concerned?  We all know how little he used the TE in Arizona.

NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reports "all signs point" toward Bruce Arians being the next head coach of the Bucs.

Rapsheet has been beating this drum for over 24 hours now. He reports the sides have yet to begin talking contract, but it seems things will wrap up in relatively short order. 66-year-old Arians' latest retirement lasted one season.
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Who were his TE's during his time in Zona?  I don't remember but pretty sure they mostly sucked.  Not much point using scrub players in an offense.

Todd Heap at end of his career was there, but he was broken down and barely played.  

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Boone22 said:
Should us owners be concerned?  We all know how little he used the TE in Arizona.

NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reports "all signs point" toward Bruce Arians being the next head coach of the Bucs.

Rapsheet has been beating this drum for over 24 hours now. He reports the sides have yet to begin talking contract, but it seems things will wrap up in relatively short order. 66-year-old Arians' latest retirement lasted one season.
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I wouldn't panic, but I think some concern is warranted. 

I know we can point and say his TEs sucked, but let's not pretend that was completely out of his control. It's very possible he only had blocking TEs by design. The guy likes to run 3WR sets and throw the ball deep - he needs a blocking TE for that. Some OCs adapt their offense to their players, while other OCs are set in their ways and prefer to force square pegs into round holes until they have time to re-tool their roster into exactly what they want. I like Arians, but at 66 I fear he's more likely to fall into the latter category. 

I would be excited about this potential signing if I owned Evans or Godwin, but not so much for Howard. I would not be surprised to see Brate cut, as he's not a very good blocker and I could be wrong, but I think his contract was weird in that it had no dead cap if he were cut in the 2nd year. Just looked it up: https://overthecap.com/player/cameron-brate/3770/

Off topic, but as a football fan I was hoping to see Arians go to Cleveland. 

 
FF Ninja said:
I wouldn't panic, but I think some concern is warranted. 

I know we can point and say his TEs sucked, but let's not pretend that was completely out of his control. It's very possible he only had blocking TEs by design. The guy likes to run 3WR sets and throw the ball deep - he needs a blocking TE for that. Some OCs adapt their offense to their players, while other OCs are set in their ways and prefer to force square pegs into round holes until they have time to re-tool their roster into exactly what they want. I like Arians, but at 66 I fear he's more likely to fall into the latter category. 

I would be excited about this potential signing if I owned Evans or Godwin, but not so much for Howard. I would not be surprised to see Brate cut, as he's not a very good blocker and I could be wrong, but I think his contract was weird in that it had no dead cap if he were cut in the 2nd year. Just looked it up: https://overthecap.com/player/cameron-brate/3770/

Off topic, but as a football fan I was hoping to see Arians go to Cleveland. 
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I think Arians will love Howard but I agree that we can probably knock his stock down a little. 

Although I have him in 5 leagues and won't be selling.

 
FF Ninja said:
I wouldn't panic, but I think some concern is warranted. 

I know we can point and say his TEs sucked, but let's not pretend that was completely out of his control. It's very possible he only had blocking TEs by design. The guy likes to run 3WR sets and throw the ball deep - he needs a blocking TE for that. Some OCs adapt their offense to their players, while other OCs are set in their ways and prefer to force square pegs into round holes until they have time to re-tool their roster into exactly what they want. I like Arians, but at 66 I fear he's more likely to fall into the latter category. 

I would be excited about this potential signing if I owned Evans or Godwin, but not so much for Howard. I would not be surprised to see Brate cut, as he's not a very good blocker and I could be wrong, but I think his contract was weird in that it had no dead cap if he were cut in the 2nd year. Just looked it up: https://overthecap.com/player/cameron-brate/3770/

Off topic, but as a football fan I was hoping to see Arians go to Cleveland. 
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Isn't there a famous quote by him along the lines of "TEs are made for blocking and WRs and out there to catch the ball?" - of course he's a smart guy and will likely reassess if he has a guy like Howard that can give him a huge advantage - but it should be a bit concerning at least.

 
Not damning but here is the quote I was thinking of:

So how does Cardinals coach Bruce Arians view a tight end’s job responsibilities?

The subject came up at the NFL Scouting Combine on Friday, and Arians made his stance clear.

“The tight end for me, I’m old school. You’ve got to block first and catch passes,” Arians said.

“That’s why I loved (Steelers TE) Heath Miller. I still think Heath Miller’s the best tight end in the National Football League, not because he catches 90 passes, (but) because he blocks big defensive ends, and he catches about 60-70 passes.

“The guys that line up as wide receivers might get tagged as wide receivers. But, you know, tight ends for me block first, catch second.”

Rob Housler was the Cardinals’ leading pass catcher among tight ends in 2013, hauling in 39 receptions for 454 yards and one TD in 13 games. He was targeted 57 times — about four times per contest.

The Cardinals’ three most-targeted players in 2013 were all wide receivers: Larry Fitzgerald (134 targets), Michael Floyd (112), Andre Roberts (76).
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-OZ- said:
I think Arians will love Howard but I agree that we can probably knock his stock down a little. 

Although I have him in 5 leagues and won't be selling.
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I couldn't imagine selling. He could be the next Gronk, IMO. I'll be wary in redraft, but will happily acquire in dynasty if anyone wants to sell on this news... well, if this becomes news. Right now just speculation. 

 
Howard is 6'6" 250 lbs with 4.51 speed... 

He's a better vertical threat than a lot of WRs in the league based on his speed/agility/catch radius. 

It remains to be seen what Arians will do with Howard but I have to believe his old school stance on TEs is based on old school style TEs, and not unicorns like O.J. Howard. Did he ever coach a guy with Howard's measurables? If they're not going to use him, surely they would do well to trade him and get a big return. 

 
Do think Arians prefers a good blocking tight end on the field. That’s not to say they don’t get some play in the passing game. When he was with Indy, Dwayne Allen was on the field more than Fleener. Howard is a good blocker so guessing he’ll be on the field a lot and with snaps comes production. 

 
I'm going to assume Bruce has never had a TE like O.J., and I'm also going to assume Bruce is a smart man.  The other factor is O.J. is a fantastic blocker, so he'll still be on the field regardless.  I guess I'm also assuming Bruce is the next HC of the Bucs.  :lol:

 
fruity pebbles said:
Do think Arians prefers a good blocking tight end on the field. That’s not to say they don’t get some play in the passing game. When he was with Indy, Dwayne Allen was on the field more than Fleener. Howard is a good blocker so guessing he’ll be on the field a lot and with snaps comes production. 
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That's the thing, Howard can do everything.

I don't know if he's quite Gonzo but his utilization in KC was heavily dependent on the o line. Most of the time it was good, but there were times Gonzo was much more involved as a blocker.

 
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