Fantasy Upside
O.J. Howard was selected in the first round of this year’s draft because he’s a one-of-a-kind tight end. He has massive size at 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, and is surprisingly fast (4.51 40-yard time) for his body size. He was a threat at Alabama and looks to bring his playmaking ability to the professional level. His size gives Winston a matchup nightmare in the red zone and in the middle of the field.
Fantasy Downside
History has not been kind to rookie tight ends, and we wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case here. While Howard looks to be a great talent, he’s at least the third option behind Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson. And that’s assuming he gets the starting job over Cameron Brate, who shined for Tampa last season. There’s just a lot of unknown as it deals with Howard and how he’ll be used.
2017 Bottom Line
Howard was drafted in the first round for a reason, so we expect to see him on the field plenty during his rookie year. His ceiling could wind up being a low-end TE1, but that’s only potential. His floor is pretty low, too. If you plan on taking Howard in fantasy, it would probably be a good idea to get a second tight end to pair him with in case it doesn’t work out.
