O.J Howard at #3?

[PolarBear]

The most dynamic pass catcher in this draft is not Mike Williams or Corey Davis. Heck, the best offensive weapon in this draft is not Leonard Fournette.

Both of those titles belong to O.J Howard.

6'6, 250 pounds with a 4.51 dash time, a 6.85 3-cone drill and a 4.16 20 yard shuttle.

To put the 3-cone time into perspective, he ran it faster than guys like Quincy Wilson, Fabian Moreau and Tredavious White. He beat some of the top CB's in this draft at a drill that is typically a measurement of a player's change of direction ability.

His 20 yard shuttle was faster than Christian McCaffrey, Taywan Taylor, Gareon Conley and many other much smaller guys who should be outrunning this man.

Howard from an athletic standpoint, is an elite talent second only to probably Myles Garrett. He is a match up nightmare from a physical standpoint for pretty much any safety, LB or CB.

I say don't let the tight end tag fool you and draft this man. You can use this guy in so many ways and create havoc the way that the Saints did with Jimmy Graham and the Pats did with Gronk.

 

[CHICAGOMIDWAYMONSTERS]

Id trade back a few spots, gain some picks an take OJ Howard. You wont need a WR right away if you take Howard.

 

[Enasic]

Not at 3.

 

[Warden of the Northeast]

If Pace pulls that little stunt then he can pack his bags and GTFO.

 

[PolarBear]

Why not at #3?

With all the question marks around the top prospects and the fact that the Bears need difference makers...why does the position matter?

You know what's going to happen? I can see it now. O.J Howard probably falls to the 7-12 range of the draft and guess what? It won't matter which team selects him, everyone will say what a great pick it is.

You know why? Because he should have gone earlier.

 

[PolarBear]

Because I would be afraid that Dowell Loggains wouldn't use Howard's skills in such a way that its worthy of the #3 overall pick. The Bears had Greg Olsen and had him blocking and running 5 yard drag routes. He leaves and becomes one of the best TEs in the league because the Panthers are smart enough to have him run 15-20 yards downfield and lob him the ball.

The Seahawks traded their best OL and leader (Max Unger) to get Jimmy Graham, and its been a disaster. Their OL cannot run block, so when defenses see that Graham is in the game, they can simply play the pass. The whole point of teams having great TEs (like the Patriots) is that you create indecision in the defense...you can run or pass from a 2 TE offense, and if you pass you can take advantage of a defense playing 8 in the box or having Greg Olsen being covered by an OLB. I just don't see the Bears offense ever creating that 'indecision' with opposing defenses.

On a side note, the Bears haven't really applied their top picks very well. Kyle Long was a 1st round OG. Whitehair is now a 2nd round OC. You still have issues with both OT positions. There was a huge dropoff IMO from Amari Cooper to Kevin White...Cooper was unquestionably a #1 WR...White was a project/#2 WR who you hoped would develop into a #1...not really a top 10 'immediate impact' pick. Leonard Floyd is another top 10 project. The result is after several years of picking high in the draft, you have a team that is completely devoid of talent at QB/WR/TE, and has issues at OT and pass rusher. Perhaps this could be overcome in 1932 with a Wing-T offense, but in 2017 NFL its more difficult to be anything other than a 3-13 team.

I think the concern is understandable and I am not a huge fan of Loggains by any means but that shouldn't stop you from drafting the best players. That seems like a strange reason why you shouldn't draft the guy.

Your second point about what the Patriots do is something that I have always wanted the Bears to do and don't understand why more teams haven't valued the TE position like BB does. When you have two TE's on the field who can both catch the ball and block, you make things extremely difficult for a defense to gauge a run or pass. It's so simple but yet something I think the NFL has just let it go right over their head. BB every year finds a TE to put next to Gronk to compliment him and their offense is successful every year.

Your third point also valid although I like the value of the Whitehair pick. Was never a fan of Floyd or White to be honest during the draft process. I wanted Shane Ray and Vernon Hargreaves.

 

[BaBaBlacksheep]

Dowell Loggains is probably fired along with Fox after this year. Why let a short timer determine draft strategy? Makes no sense.

 

[Mdbearz]

This TE class is fairly deep. He would be a great addition, but what would you be missing out on?

I like Adam, but that is the safe pick at a position of need. Pace has 2 years in a row gone for the high risk, high reward type players in the first round, so your thought process is not that crazy, even though O.J Howard is not a high risk guy it is risky taking a TE at 3.

 

[DarkKalel]

Very much in agreement that OJ Howard should be on the board. Pace is attempting to stretch the field with somewhat unknown, injury prone receivers . We have a potentially good, maybe even dominant running game. Having a tight end who is dominant ( Miller is NOT dominant) that teams have to game plan and adjust to will provide a different dimension to the offense . It will potentially provide that possession type "receiver" that we lack with Alshon leaving and hope to acquire from Meredith's growth.

I wouldn't take him at three ( but a trade down to 6 to 10 ) and you may get an actual impact by a first round Bears draft pick for a change.

Draft picks like Adams , Allen and Thomas are sensible , but I believe Fangio will have a better squad just from an improved injury perspective. The question is can the offense have more balance? In its current state,...uh definitely not

 

[Mdbearz]

OJ is graded very high and from that standpoint wouldn't be the biggest reach. Just cant see it tho.

Without a doubt, him and Sims (I like better than some) would make a killer 2 TE set. Not a huge reach talent wise, so I am like you, if it happened, I like it, but I doubt we take a TE that high.

 

[BaBaBlacksheep]

Howard is the safest potential top pick I can think of. (outside of Garrett)

QB's always risky. (I'd still take one, but not the point of this post)
Hooker. (Injured)
Adams. (pedestrian combine numbers. If you take a safety at #3 the guy better be a freak)
Allen (Injury issues and questionable athleticism)
Lattimore (hamstrings)
Foster (Character issues)
Fournette (We have a running back)
I know if no issues with Solomon Thomas except maybe not a scheme fit.

I literally can think of no issues with Howard except the typical, "well no one ever takes a TE that high." Is there a safer pick in this draft? Can someone name that player? Everybody loves Adams but safeties almost never go that high either. Why is Adams an OK option but not Howard?

Anyways, I'm just playing Devil's a bit. I personally would take a QB. But I really wouldn't have any issues with Howard at 3. The guy looks like he could be a huge game changer in the NFL if used accurately.

 

[satchice]

If you really want a TE in the top 10 then you should think of trading back into the 1st for him... Is he worth 2018 1st Rd + 2017 2nd + 2017 4th? I say Fuck No. but he would be our best offensive player, but with out a QB what's the point?

 

[dweebs19]

Todd McShay has OJ Howard going at 4 in his new draft

 

[satchice]

I think I would rather have Jermy Sprinkle (6'5, 252 pounds with a 4.61 dash time) in the 4-5 round. He has great hand and is a great blocker. He just fits our scheme more and lets the 1st round pick be used on a qb/edge/CB

 

[Payton!34]

This is a great thread. BB has been taking advantage of the biggest discrepancy of physical talent on the offensive field. Talented tight ends are miles more athletic the most linebackers and by a much larger margin than wideouts vs cornerbacks and then he uses a lot of rb'S against lb's too which is a mismatch as well!!!

Two tight end sets with sims and Howard would be devastating bc sims and Howard are wavelength blockers and sims is an average receiver and Howard is amazing!

 

[BaBaBlacksheep]

But the reason that no one ever takes a TE that high is because of the ROI. There were only two TEs who appeared in the top 30 receiving yardage leaderboard last year...Travis Kelce and Greg Olsen. Kelce and Olsen combined for 7 TDs last year.

So why is everyone OK with a safety at 3? They never go that high either.

Would a healthy Gronk be worthy of the 3rd pick?

 

[dabears70]

The most dynamic pass catcher in this draft is not Mike Williams or Corey Davis. Heck, the best offensive weapon in this draft is not Leonard Fournette.

Both of those titles belong to O.J Howard.

6'6, 250 pounds with a 4.51 dash time, a 6.85 3-cone drill and a 4.16 20 yard shuttle.

To put the 3-cone time into perspective, he ran it faster than guys like Quincy Wilson, Fabian Moreau and Tredavious White. He beat some of the top CB's in this draft at a drill that is typically a measurement of a player's change of direction ability.

His 20 yard shuttle was faster than Christian McCaffrey, Taywan Taylor, Gareon Conley and many other much smaller guys who should be outrunning this man.

Howard from an athletic standpoint, is an elite talent second only to probably Myles Garrett. He is a match up nightmare from a physical standpoint for pretty much any safety, LB or CB.

I say don't let the tight end tag fool you and draft this man. You can use this guy in so many ways and create havoc the way that the Saints did with Jimmy Graham and the Pats did with Gronk.

I couldn't get mad if we drafted OJ at #3 but he's one of those guys that we could trade down and still get inside the top 10-12 IMO while picking up an extra pick or two.

I've been giving more thought to guys like him and even C.McCaffrey lately as guys we could get in the mid to late part of the draft while picking up extra picks. I know nobody is gonna be with me on drafting McCaffrey and i'm actually surprising myself with this but J.Howard has a weakness with pass catching and McCaffrey is great at it and the kid just runs so smooth after the catch and can do PR/KR duties.

I wouldn't mind OJ Howard but to be able to have a J.Howard/C.McCaffrey backfield would be big for us on offense.

 

[Omeletpants]

Worst idea EVER. GTFO

 

[iueyedoc]

OJ Howard would be a huge reach at 3. I'm not sure how he is getting all this hype. He has prototypical size and speed, but his college production was lacking. He never took over games or was, as you would expect, that guy that was going to get the ball in the red zone even though everyone knew it and was just unstoppable. I knew he was never really a game changer, but when I looked it up even I was surprised that he had 7 career TD's , 7!!
He is a looks like Tarzan plays like Jane TE.

 

[dabears70]

This is a great thread. BB has been taking advantage of the biggest discrepancy of physical talent on the offensive field. Talented tight ends are miles more athletic the most linebackers and by a much larger margin than wideouts vs cornerbacks and then he uses a lot of rb'S against lb's too which is a mismatch as well!!!

Two tight end sets with sims and Howard would be devastating bc sims and Howard are wavelength blockers and sims is an average receiver and Howard is amazing!

Just think of how much space having two of OJ, Simms, Miller on the field would open up for our new quicker/faster WR's in Wright and Wheaton. So much focus would be on OJ and Miller or OJ and Simms that it would leave one on one coverage with our WR's at times and Glennon has a gun to get the ball down field. Having OJ Howard would be a game changer for us at times.