TAMPA, Fla. -- At a head-turning 6-foot-6 and 251 pounds, the only thing seemingly larger than Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard are the expectations he faced his rookie season. But with an added emphasis on technique and truly learning to use his size, Howard and the Bucs' coaching staff feel he's not only ready to rise up and meet those lofty expectations -- he's poised to exceed them with a breakout year.
"I definitely am expecting it. I know he is," tight ends coach Ben Steele said. "We talk about 'the great ones show up every single day.' He has it in him. We are definitely demanding that out of him this season.'"
Chosen 19th overall and the first tight end to come off the board in 2017, Howard produced some "wow" moments last season. He had two touchdown catches against the Buffalo Bills. Then there was the 58-yard catch-and-run that looked eerily similar to the one he had in the College Football Playoff National Championship -- it even came along the same sideline. But there were too many other moments when Howard seemed to disappear.
"Consistency is the biggest thing for me," Howard said. "Those 'jaw-dropping' plays, I'm supposed to make those. That's the type of athlete I feel like I am and the type of player that I am. It's just about being consistent with those plays."
He finished his rookie season with 26 catches on 39 targets for 432 receiving yards and six touchdowns. Solid numbers -- he tied Evan Engram for most touchdown catches among rookie tight ends -- but the Bucs expect more. A player who's 25 pounds heavier and runs a faster 40 time than Mike Evans should shatter those rookie numbers.
"There's no way that anyone should match up on him," Steele said. "Like the third down we had last week against [the] Tennessee [Titans], it's third-and-medium, we put him out one-on-one and every single time, he's gotta win. He didn't do a good enough job on the route, so those are the things details-wise that he's gotta get better at. And he's done a really good job of that so far. It's just gotta be consistency -- every down, every play.
"Those 'jaw-dropping' plays, I'm supposed to make those. That's the type of athlete I feel like I am and the type of player that I am." Bucs tight end O.J. Howard
"That's what I'm looking for -- not a play here or a play there of looking awesome and the rest of them, [just OK]. We're expecting him to be where he's supposed to be on third down. To me, that's the biggest 'wow' -- putting all those plays together consistently."
Despite not having his best performance in the second preseason game at Tennessee, Howard has made more than his share of plays in camp, like a leaping, one-handed grab of a pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick, or the pass he caught in the middle of the field with Carlton Davis literally bouncing off of him in midair. Howard not only remained upright on the play, but paused for a brief second only so he could redirect his steps around Davis, who had fallen to the turf.
"Without question, there have been far more [wow plays] this camp than there were last year combined," Steele said. "He's had, by far, of the group, the most-improved camp of the year."
The key is no longer relying on his freakish athleticism to get by. He has had to focus on his technique, whether it be fine-tuning his routes, his footwork or coming out of his breaks better. The talent disparity in the NFL is much smaller than in college, so the details matter that much more. Not just in the receiving game, but in blocking, with Julius Peppers and Cameron Jordan trying to get a piece of his quarterback.
"There's definitely no room for error, because there aren't any bad football players in the NFL. In college, it's a different game," Steele said. "He's gotta use his size to his advantage, without question. He's learning that, and he's understanding that more so, which is why from his rookie year to this year, I've seen the change. Now we've just gotta see it on the field on Sundays and in the preseason."
Howard has been staying after nearly every practice to work with offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Some days they work on fade routes in the end zone, or they'll focus on details like getting his elbows in when he leaps to make a catch.
"The more I see on film of things I could have done better, the more I look at it like, 'Man, I could really use my size to my advantage on that type of play or that type of route.' Those are the biggest things, and making those adjustments, and trying to put it in my everyday game," Howard said.
Said Steele: "He missed one [today] in the two-minute drill. You saw it show up when he caught the fade last week in the end zone [in joint practices with the Titans]. He's gotta be a weapon down there."
It's especially important for him right now, because he's having to adapt to two different quarterbacks with starter Jameis Winston missing the first three games of the regular season because of a suspension. They use the same playbook with Fitzpatrick, but the ball is going to come out differently, often to different spots.
"When I run an out route, I want to let those guys know, 'I'm gonna be at the depth I'm supposed to be at.' That way, they can throw it and trust me to be there," Howard said. "It won't happen overnight. You've gotta put in the work to get the results that you want."
Fitzpatrick remembers a red zone play from early in camp when they failed to connect in the corner of the end zone, but several days later, Howard came down with it.
"He was upset with himself and worked on it, and worked on it, and [he] brought that one down, so that was nice to see," Fitzpatrick said.
"The thing that I really appreciate about him is that he's coachable," Steele said of Howard. "He doesn't take it personally. If I grade him harshly, it's because I expect him to be great. And he understands that, he gets that. I hold him to a different standard than I hold other players to, because of his ability. You can talk as far as a guy's potential, but it's what he does with it is gonna be the difference as far as winning games and one-on-one matchups."