Film Study: Alabama's O.J. Howard is the ultimate ace in the hole

Coming into the 2014-15 season, University of Alabama tight end O.J. Howard was thought to, perhaps, become the breakout player of the Southeastern Conference after a freshman season which saw him make nothing short of an impact, virtually, every time he touched the ball.

The former 5-star prospect, No. 19 overall according to 247sports (No. 1 TE), managed 14 catches for 269 yards as a true freshman — many of the awe-inspiring variety.

He had many, particularly myself, ranting and raving about his reported 4.5 40-yard dash speed, which was on full display when he took a quick slant 52 yards to the house against the best secondary in the nation, Louisiana State University, displaying athleticism only seen from NFL players — and the only top-10 picks at the TE position in recent memory — Vernon Davis and Eric Ebron. ( Both of whom went sixth (2006) and 10th (2014) to the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions, respectively.)

But neither of those players were provided the type of platform the 6’6″, 242-pound Howard was playing for the best program in the country (hence the hype machine being on full tilt).

However, once a few games were in the books, and Howard was a victim of the football version of the Amber Alert, it was much too late to put the toothpaste back in the tube, so to speak. I’ll take complete fault in not relaying how one of my favorite football minds, Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin, has yet to develop a track record of targeting the tight end. (The operative word being yet, hopefully.)

In fact, his targeting of X- and Z-receivers is all but legendary behind his work with numerous star players: Mike Williams, Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith, Denarius Moore, Robert Woods, Marqise Lee and Amari Cooper. (Click here to read how I believe he will turn current WR Robert Foster into a star.)

But with the lack of returning production along the receiving corps, the uber-talented Howard may be just what the doctor ordered to break in an inexperienced quarterback while the offense is tweaked to rely predominantly on the rushing attack.

Head coach Nick Saban intimated as much when asked how the offense would be deployed with the recent departure of the jack-of-all-trades king Jalston Fowler.

“Jalston certainly was an outstanding player for us, and he will be missed, but it will create an opportunity for other players at other positions,” Saban said recently at SEC Media Days.

“We have always operated more with two tight ends and one back and two receivers as a base formation. When we had Brad Smelley and players like that in the past. And Jalston, being a fullback, was kind of an anomaly for us because it’s not a position that we really recruit. So we’ll probably go back to tight ends playing those types of roles in our offense, whether it’s O.J. Howard, Ty Smith, those bigger, athletic guys who have some of the same skill set.”

There’s two schools of thought behind a quote like that: Saban is more involved in the personnel aspect of the offense than we have been led on to believe, and there should rarely be a time that Howard comes off the field now.

Operating out of “Ace” personnel provides a ton of versatility for a multiplicative offense like the one Kiffin runs. With two tight ends on the field, you have the ability to go to four- and five-wide sets without dampening the impact of your receiving game, but you can also drop down into power packages and pound the rock.

This is especially key for tempo-based offenses.

Yep; you read that right. The coach who many considered to be at the forefront of the anti-tempo campaign — this time last year — is now actually pulling the wool back on his scheme to reveal his true feelings (sort of like Taxicab Confessions for Hall of Fame coaches).

“I think it’s also important that, if we’re going to be a no-huddle team like we were last year, I think we have to manage the season better with our team, because I think at the end of the season last year, we ran out of gas a little bit,” Saban stated.

Just that little piece of information let’s us know that Howard’s versatility may have to reign supreme over his athleticism and ability to stretch the field.

It will be his blocking-prowess that will be coveted by Kiffin and Saban, especially with the departure of not only Fowler, but with the graduated Brian Vogler as well. (And if you’re reading this and you’re a fellow member of the media, stop being lazy and saying Howard can’t block  — because that’s far from the truth.)

On this “Long Trap” play, Howard played the “U” role one might normally associate with Fowler or Vogler. And while it wasn’t a bone-jarring block, it served its purpose in helping to spring an explosive gain by the back.

On this inside-zone run, Howard sprung the play with a seal block from the back-side. To the naked eye it may not look like much, but his squaring up with his man walled off the back-side pursuit and helped to generate, yet, another explosive gain; Howard has a complete understanding of run concepts.

Here’s a third-different block from Howard, a down block, where he sprung the running back for an explosive play. Howard has proved himself ready, willing and able to contribute to the most important aspect of Bama’s offense: the rushing attack.

But I know most people want to know what are his prospects in the passing game, and rightfully so. He’s as talented of an athlete as you’ll ever see and can work perfect in either a rhythm-and-timing or vertical-based outfit.

There’s really no need to spend much time talking about this aspect as I’ve covered it from a multitude of angles. We know he can be used as a receiver, in-line or move TE or even an H-back, but it’s up to Kiffin to look within himself and deviate from his scheme and feature the position.

Howard pressing the seams against the University of Mississippi. 

Fans undoubtedly want to see more of the above sequence as it seems almost impossible to keep a player of this magnitude hidden for the duration of his career; Howard has the ability to add some serious value to a passing attack with no proven short-to-intermediate threat.

But do realize he’s making his presence felt in the run game and working towards being a complete TE. If Kiffin can get him between 40 and 50 catches, we could very well see Bama dominate on offense in a way that’s just as tough to defend as we got used to last season.

If not, Howard may go down as the most underutilized, downfield weapon in recent SEC lore.