Quote:Howard isn't on Megatron's level (let's not kid ourselves, there's only a few of them out there), but he's pretty up there as far as "freak" athletes go.

 

For me, what intrigues me with Howard is his possible "fit" in this offense. I've talked in previous posts about how I feel our personnel (having our three best offensive players being WRs) and our target identity (physicality and running the football) don't quite "mesh". Teams who want to be physical and run the football often do it with 2 WRs, 1 FB, and 1 TE. 

 

For us, there's a few issues:

 

1. We do not have a FB in our roster right now

2. Our TEs are either good blockers (Lewis/Koyack) or good receivers (Rivera/Sterling), but not both

3. It takes one of our 3 best playmakers (Lee, Hurns, ARob) off the field.

 

So, how do you get 3 WRs and still have a run-the-football identity?

 

By having a 6'6 251 TE who can run block, pass block, speed to stretch the defense, catch passes and get open in the middle of the field, catch passes out of the backfield, and has the speed to run away and pick up YAC.

 

The thought of adding Howard to this offense just sounds so tempting. 

 

When teams go 3 WRs, the normal tendency for the defense is to go nickel to match speed. A player like Howard creates such a mismatch. Let's say we motion Howard to the slot to give us a 4 WR look. As a defense, what do you do?

 

If you put your SS on him to leave the two LBs for run support, you leave your passing defense vulnerable.

 

If you put a LB on him to keep the safety deep, you now have left yourself with 4 down lineman + 1 LB to go up against 5 OL and a running back.

 

Simply put, having a player like OJ (if he lives up to his potential and utilized as a weapon), will change how teams defend against us.