Buccaneers' O.J. Howard gets in work with Tom Brady

Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard worked out with quarterback Tom Brady and other teammates at a local private school.

What It Means:

This is the first report of Howard and Brady working out together since the quarterback joined the team. The former first-round pick was engulfed by trade rumors leading up to the draft, but the Buccaneers have since indicated that they will open the year with all three of Howard, Rob Gronkowski, and Cameron Brate. Howard's numbers dropped to 32.8 yards per game and 13.5 per catch in 2019 after he recorded 56.5 per game and 16.6 per catch in 2018. He also only found the end zone once after totaling 10 touchdowns his first two years in the league.

Howard is the TE30 in numberFire's preseason fantasy rankings. Our models project him for 48.4 targets, 31.2 receptions, 361.1 yards, and 2.4 touchdowns. Despite the dip in production, Howard did average the sixth-most yards per target (8.7) out of 30 tight ends with at least 45 targets. In 2018, Howard led that same group with 11.8 yards per target.