TAMPA, Fla. -- New Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard squared up against a linebacker, sprinted five steps to his right, pivoted his body toward the quarterback, and leaped into the air to make a catch.
For now, he's not exactly going full speed. The quarterback throwing to him isn't Jameis Winston. This catch, made with the defender diving at his waist, unable to bring down Howard's 6-foot-6, 251-pound frame, counts as just a single rep.
"It felt great," Howard said after Day 1 of the Bucs' three-day rookie minicamp, his first NFL practice. "I think the reality finally set in on me when I put on the jersey, went out with the team and competed."
It's the start of what the Bucs believe will be something special for their offense. They've needed a guy who can stick his face in the fan and block, teeing up their ground game, who isn't afraid to catch tough passes in traffic over the middle.
They came close with Austin Seferian-Jenkins, another big body, but he struggled with run-blocking. He was cut after he was arrested for DUI, a huge disappointment for Tampa Bay after it invested a second-round draft pick.
The Bucs drafted Howard with the 19th overall pick in last week's draft because he's the epitome of the complete package for a tight end, and one of the "top character guys" from their draft board. They've needed him to help H-back Cameron Brate, or "F" tight end, as head coach Dirk Koetter refers to the role where the player is moved all around the offensive formation.
"The true Y tight ends are a dying breed in college football," Koetter said of the more traditional in-line role. "There’s not that many teams left that utilize a player like O.J. while in the NFL. I think it's still one of the best weapons that you can have."
"Especially coming out of the program he did," Koetter added of the Alabama product. "He's winner, he’s a great kid, and he can do everything we need a tight end to do.”
For now, they're working on the basics. Howard is getting acquainted with new surroundings and trying to soak up as much as he can from the playbook. Then the veterans and rookies will come together for more on-field work in mandatory minicamp, and he'll get to catch passes from Winston.
“They have to get in the book and learn on the run," Koetter said of Howard and his fellow rookies. "The way the rules are this year, after minicamp those guys are going to have to leave for a week. Then they’ll just come back, they’ll only be here for five weeks in the offseason program. That’s a week shorter than last year so it’s definitely a steep learning curve."
Luckily for Howard, Koetter's system is very similar to the run-first offense he worked in at Alabama.
"That's what makes it kind of easy right now," Howard said. The volume hasn't been too daunting, even though rookies have one less week to learn the material than they did last year. "It requires studying every day so you can learn it. Every day you put more on it, so you've got to learn new things every day and remember what you learned yesterday. But so far it's not bad at all."
He's also very comfortable with studying on his own, something not all players can do coming out of college.
"You have to double up, Howard said. "You have to study two installs a night. That's just something you have to do. You have to keep looking over it, then write it down so [you] can remember it. You have to go those extra steps just to retain it."
It's that kind of effort and those extra steps that are just what the Bucs have been looking for.