Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard hasn't exactly had the best season in 2019. It looks like things will be getting worse for him as he's officially been ruled out for their Week 9 matchup with the Seattle Seahawks.
HC Bruce Arians said TE OJ Howard will be the only player out against Seattle.
— Carmen Vitali (@CarmieV) November 1, 2019
The good news for the Buccaneers is that Howard will be the only player out against Seattle. However, this is just piling on to an already disappointing season for the tight end.
Howard came into 2019 with a lot of moment. After a strong rookie campaign in 2017, the tight end was putting up great numbers in 2018. Despite playing in just 10 games, he had more receptions (34) and yards (565) than he had in his rookie year. He also had five touchdown receptions — just one less than the season prior.
Due to all that, 2019 was supposed to be a major year for the third-year star. Instead, he's barely been seen.
Through six games, Howard has just 13 receptions. With those he has only 176 yards. That gives him a career-worst 13.5 yards per reception. He also has zero touchdowns to this point.
Now he's losing another week to try and build on those stats.
Howard's name was floating around pretty heavily before the trade deadline. It would not have been surprising at all to see him on the move. That is because despite his poor season, he's still seen as someone with a ton of upside.
Howard is still just 24 and is coming off two strong seasons to start his career. With that in mind, despite his poor showing so far in 2019, it's still a pretty big blow to have him out in Week 9.
The Buccaneers already face an uphill battle against the Seahawks. Now they have to go up against them without their young tight end.
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