With O.J. Howard and DeSean Jackson, Jameis Winston is going to soar
Jameis Winston always seems to be smiling. Imagine how wide his smile got on Thursday night.
There’s no way the Tampa Bay Buccaneers woke up on Thursday thinking they’d have a shot to draft Alabama tight end O.J. Howard with the 19th pick of the draft. Some thought Howard might go in the top five.
There wasn’t much hesitation when the Buccaneers went on the clock and Howard was still on the board. Right after the Tennessee Titans – who also would have been a fun landing spot for Howard, too – took USC cornerback Adoree’ Jackson, reporters on Twitter almost immediately said the Bucs had decided to take Howard.
Winston was already developing very well, but the Buccaneers have helped him out this offseason. DeSean Jackson was signed, giving the Bucs a much-needed deep threat to go with Mike Evans. Tampa Bay had the capable Cameron Brate at tight end, but now the Bucs can create matchup headaches with a pair of talented tight ends. Howard in particular will be tough to match up against.
Howard didn’t produce a ton at Alabama, but the Crimson Tide has a run-first offense and used a freshman quarterback last season. Howard is one of the best athletes at tight end in recent years, and he’s not a bad blocker either. He should immediately make an impact for a Buccaneers team that will be a popular pick to breakthrough in 2017.
And the happiest guy in Florida on Thursday night might have been Winston. He’s going to put up some huge numbers in his third season with those new weapons.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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