When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went on the clock in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, they were amazed Alabama tight end O.J. Howard was still available. They had him listed as a Top-5 talent, and never imagined he’d fall all the way to pick 19.
Coming off of a 9-7 finish in 2016, he was just the kind of versatile offensive playmaker the team needed to go from second-place in the NFC South to first, and unseat the defending division champion Atlanta Falcons.
Of course, two years later, the team is coming off of back-to-back 5-11 records, has a new coaching entourage, and has hitched a lot of their offensive aspirations in the coming year to an undrafted running back and disappointing second-round draft pick from one year ago.