Will tight end O.J. Howard be a top-10 pick in the NFL draft? | Paul Domowitch
Howard, who played at Alabama, has a chance to become only the fourth tight end over the last 20 years to be a top-10 selection.
NOT A LOT of tight ends have heard their name called at the top end of the draft. Just three have been top-10 selections in the last 20 years: Eric Ebron (10th by Detroit in 2014), Vernon Davis (sixth by San Francisco in '06) and Kellen Winslow Jr. (sixth by Cleveland in '04).
By comparison, 31 quarterbacks, 18 running backs and 28 wide receivers have been top-10 selections in that same period.
That said, a fourth tight end could very well be joining the Top 10 Club at next week's draft in Philadelphia.
Despite putting up relatively modest receiving numbers during his college career at Alabama, many draft analysts expect tight end O.J. Howard to hear his name called early by Roger Goodell.
In his latest mock draft, the NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah has Howard going sixth to the New York Jets. ESPN's Mel Kiper and CBS Sports' Rob Rang both have him going 10th to Cleveland. Several others have him penciled in at No. 12 to Cleveland. Few have him lingering beyond that.
"He's one of the more complete tight ends you're going to find,'' said Bucky Brooks, an NFL Network analyst and former player. "He's dynamic. He's tough. He's worked on his craft.
"At the top of the charts, you're trying to make sure you don't miss. This is a guy who is almost a can't-miss prospect in terms of what he brings to the table. Those kind of guys, those are special players. That's why I think he warrants a top-10 grade.''
In an era when the overwhelming majority of tight ends coming out of college are oversized wide receivers with limited blocking experience, the 6-6, 251-pound Howard is the complete package.
He never caught more than 45 passes in a season at Alabama and left there with just seven career touchdown catches. But that speaks more to the ground-based nature of 'Bama's offense than it does to any limitations by Howard.
"He was underutilized as a receiver at Alabama because of the type of team they were,'' NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said. "But he can get intermediate. He can get deep. He can run all of the NFL seam routes that the tight ends run. He's got hands. And he's as competitive as can be.''
And he will be entering the NFL with a reputation as a solid blocker who will be able to step in and help in the run game immediately.
Howard surprised a lot of people by returning to Alabama for his senior year. The Crimson Tide's 45-40 national championship win over Clemson two seasons ago seemed to provide the perfect segue for him to make his exit to the NFL.
Howard had the best receiving game of his career against the Tigers that night, catching five passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns. He almost certainly would've been a first-round pick last year.
But he decided to go back to Tuscaloosa, partly to get his degree (he graduated last May and has spent the last year working on a master's degree in sport business management), but primarily to become more NFL ready.
"He wanted to improve as a blocker and show (NFL) people he would embrace it, which he did,'' Mayock said.
"Just knowing I could improve in certain areas such as the run game and route-running, and just understanding the game as a whole, that played a big part (in returning for his senior year),'' Howard said.
"It's the best decision I made in my life so far. I had the opportunity to graduate college, and get better as a football player. I improved my blocking. I understand the game more. And I played for a great coach (Nick Saban). You can't beat that.''
That great coach didn't try very hard to get the ball to Howard during his four years at Alabama. He was targeted just 49 times in 2015 when he caught 38 passes for 602 yards and two touchdowns. Take the Clemson game out of the equation and he had just 33 catches for 394 yards and no TDs that season.
Last year, he was targeted just 59 times and finished with 45 receptions for 595 yards and three touchdowns. That includes the four catches for 106 yards and one touchdown he had in the national championship rematch with Clemson, which 'Bama lost, 35-31.
"After he decided to come back last year, they talked about how he was going to be a bigger part of the offense,'' Jeremiah said. "Then they threw it to him just 59 times. They didn't do him any big favors there. But I think you're talking about an elite skill set. You're talking about someone with high character and toughness. He checks every box. He's the best tight end in the draft, and I think he's one of the safer picks in the draft.''
Did the lack of pass-catching opportunities frustrate Howard?
"Frustrated? Never,'' he said. Disappointed? Yeah. I got disappointed I didn't get the opportunities I thought I should have gotten. But I never got frustrated because I was a team player. I was excited to see us win. You can't go wrong with winning.''
Howard's meager receiving numbers at Alabama don't concern NFL teams. They saw in the two Clemson games what he can do as a receiver when they throw him the ball. They saw it at the Senior Bowl and again at the scouting combine when he ran a 4.51 forty.
Here's a thought. What if Howard were to somehow slip out of the top 10, out of the top 12? What if he still is on the board when the Eagles pick at No. 14?
The Birds have a lot of needs heading into next week's draft, but tight end isn't really one of them.
They've got Zach Ertz, who has caught 70-plus passes for 800-plus yards in each of the last two seasons and is entering the second year of a five-year, $42.5 million deal he signed last year.
They've got Trey Burton, who had a career-high 37 receptions, including 20 in the last five games and is expected to be an even bigger part of the passing game this season.
And they've got Brent Celek, the ultra-dependable 32-year-old warhorse, who still is one of the better blocking tight ends in the league.
"(Bill) Belichick has changed the way teams approach the tight end position,'' Mayock said. "He used two tight ends with (Rob) Gronkowski as the main guy and (Aaron) Hernandez for a while, then most recently, Martellus Bennett.
"The old thought process was you only need one (pass-catching) tight end. Now the thinking is, if you can get a guy like Howard and match him with another tight end, Howard can compliment any other tight end. If you get him in a two-tight end system, you've got a quarterback with a chance to get the ball out of his hand.''
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