Jimmie Giles Advises O.J. Howard Don’t “Flinch”
August 27th, 2018
BY IRA KAUFMAN
Jimmie Giles gazed out at the field behind One Buc Place a few weeks ago and had a flashback moment.
For just a few glorious seconds, Giles looked at No. 80 gliding past defenders and thought he was back in the NFL, earning four Pro Bowl berths within a six-year span in the early 1980s.
Yes, second-year tight end O.J. Howard commanded the attention of Giles, who was the third member inducted into Tampa Bay’s Ring of Honor.
“Tremendous talent, tremendous specimen,” Giles says. “O.J. has the ability and the speed to become an All-Pro.”
The Bucs didn’t have a dire need at tight end entering the 2017 draft because Cameron Brate had already established himself with 57 receptions, including 8 TD catches. Still, Howard was deemed too good to pass up after starring at Alabama.
Howard turned in a solid rookie season with the Bucs, averaging 16.6 yards per catch and reaching the end zone six times.
“At Alabama, he was a big-play guy, a player who came up big in big games,” Giles says. “He has that potential, but what he has to realize is that in the NFL, it’s a big game every Sunday. You have to keep your intensity every single play because if you don’t, you end up getting hurt. I’m excited about this guy.”
So are the Bucs, who saw Howard pick up first downs on each of his two receptions against Detroit Friday night. At 6-foot-6 and 251 pounds, Howard is bigger than Giles and probably just as fast.
Fearless = YAC
Back in the day, Giles shocked NFL defenses with his downfield speed. Tight ends who stood 6-3 and weighed 240 weren’t supposed to catch passes of 80 and 81 yards.
In a playoff game at Dallas, Giles grabbed a 75-yard strike from Doug Williams, one of the few bright spots in a 38-0 drubbing.
“One of the things I’d like to see O.J. do is not think about the first contact, which will allow you to get extra yards after the catch,” Giles says. “Believe me, defensive backs and undersized linebackers do not want to hit a big guy like that. If he just makes up in his mind not to even flinch on that first hit, he’ll find himself with five or six extra yards, absolutely.
“One of the things I always did and I like to see a young kid do is in practice, catch the ball, feel the contact and run to the end zone. Every single time — so it becomes a habit. Then you won’t even think about it in the course of a game and you’ll be surprised by how many times you’ll break free. I’ve never seen guys practice it, but I made a habit of it. Guys used to ask me, why do you do that? I did it because then in the game, it really becomes easy because people expect you to go down, and you keep going.”
Like Giles, Howard isn’t just a big man who can move. He prides himself on his blocking and he’s working hard to be more precise.
Creating Nightmares
“It goes right back to our details,” Howard says. “Coach Monk [Todd Monken] always stresses so much in this camp [to] always have the details of your routes down. No matter who’s at quarterback, if you’re in the spot where you’re supposed to be in with your steps, the ball’s going to be there. I think if you do that, it doesn’t matter who the quarterback is.”
For Buc opponents 35 years ago, containing Giles was Job 1 on defense.
Giles didn’t have a lot of help, but Howard is blessed to be surrounded by a talented corps of targets.
Dirk Koetter can’t complain about the array of weapons at his disposal. The big challenge is keeping everyone happy.
“I don’t think a 2-tight end alignment would hurt the Bucs because you can use Brate like an H-back,” Giles says. “If you move him all around, you can create nightmares for that defense. I see a tremendous opportunity for the Bucs to do well this year, despite what the odds say.”
Now in his 40th year covering the NFL, Ira Kaufman is the most revered sports personality and writer in the Tampa Bay area. He scored a full-time seat at JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters in July of 2016. Tampa Bay’s only Pro Football Hall of Fame voter, Ira busts out columns here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and his award winning podcasts fire Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can also hear Ira on SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio Wednesdays at 5 p.m. during football season. Also a TV star, see Ira now on Mondays at 10:30 p.m. on Spectrum Sports 360 (aka BayNews 9). Ira also is part of the FOX-13 Tailgate Sunday NFL show and enjoys beet salads, Riesling, tennis, Chiefs victories and needling Joe.
August 27th, 2018 at 10:30 am
“One of the things I always did and I like to see a young kid do is in practice, catch the ball, feel the contact and run to the end zone. Every single time — so it becomes a habit. Then you won’t even think about it in the course of a game and you’ll be surprised by how many times you’ll break free. I’ve never seen guys practice it, but I made a habit of it. Guys used to ask me, why do you do that? I did it because then in the game, it really becomes easy because people expect you to go down, and you keep going.”
Seems Mike Evans could you a bit of his advice too. Mike is a great catcher but he just falls after the catch to often, would love to see him get one in stride or break away from contact after the initial hit.
August 27th, 2018 at 10:35 am
There was absolutely no OPI on the Howard play in the Detroit game……none.
He and ME13 are such beasts they look like mismatches and I think the officials are inclined to flag them in an even fight.
August 27th, 2018 at 10:52 am
Today dbs and “undersized” lbs are aiming for the knees to take down big guys, so you really need to watch out for the first hit to not being hurt
August 27th, 2018 at 10:56 am
I agree Evolvingbucsfan:
Mike always seems to go down after he catches it. His first catch in preseason he was wide open over the middle and Fitz hit him in stride, but Mike falls to the ground.
A catch that got 15 yards could have been a TD that got 60. I wonder if Mike got a little gun shy about running after the catch when he lead the league in dropped passes a few years ago?
August 27th, 2018 at 11:07 am
This was an excellent read. Great job Ira.
August 27th, 2018 at 11:23 am
Wausa and Evolving
Dead on..re:ME
Hawaii and I had a debate about just that after the Miami game.. My argument : He falls down to much. Hawaii’s argument: Too dangerous for a tall wide receiver over the middle.
But look at ME’s sideline catches. He goes up, (pushes off a lot), makes the catch, gets drilled, has to come out. So not any safer outside on jump balls.
August 27th, 2018 at 11:25 am
Oh and yes Ira
Great Story..Love me some Jimmie Giles. Good sound advice too……
August 27th, 2018 at 11:30 am
If ME13’s “falling down” is one of our major problems we are in great shape.
“Falling down” or not ME13 gets his production. He is not the problem. LMAO
But I’m not disagreeing with the posters…everybody can improve their game and perhaps using Giles practice habit would help ME13 to get to JJ’s level…he’s not that far behind right now.
August 27th, 2018 at 11:33 am
@Ira “The Sage”
While you can say that Head Coach Koetter “can’t complain about the array of weapons at his disposal.” The “real” fans would like to know if they sent in a formal complaint about the OJ Howard Offensive pass interference!!!!!!! We know they would have during the regular season!!! But do they send in those during preseason????? It is very important to protect the reputations, because if ref’s think that the only way OJ gets open is to push off then we will see many unwarranted flags in the regular season!!!!!!!
Get to the bottom of this Sage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 27th, 2018 at 11:39 am
I can’t figure out how that was OPI to save my life..Another poster called it The Shaq phenomena..They might be right
August 27th, 2018 at 11:45 am
How many rings does giles have???? OJ’s better ofpf talking to gronk not a player who never won anything in a completely different era and society
Bucs need to be around winners and outside of sapp they will have to seek that outside of this organization
August 27th, 2018 at 11:59 am
Awesome awesome article Ira. Jimmie Giles was always one of my favorite Bucs. Love this take from him in talking about OJ …
“What he has to realize is that in the NFL, it’s a big game every Sunday. You have to keep your intensity every single play because if you don’t, you end up getting hurt. I’m excited about this guy.”
That’s an observation I’ve never heard from anyone ever before … Keep your intensity up so you don’t end up getting hurt. Makes perfect sense. Good advice to every rookie.
August 27th, 2018 at 12:09 pm
Mentioning that 38-0 playoff loss to the my most hated Cowboys is a flashback to wallowing in hell.
August 27th, 2018 at 12:28 pm
OJ Howard was a generational TE talent coming out. If he doesn’t make pro bowls and all pros in this league at some point – it would be a surprise and huge disappointment. The entire focus of this article is about OJ’s impact as a receiver. But what makes OJ so special is his ability to block defensive ends effectively on 1 play – then make a catch 30 yards downfield on the next.
We all love to see the big pass plays – and Howard’s 16+ yard per catch average in his rookie year is a testament to his capabilities as a dynamic receiving TE.
But IMO – it is stellar blocking from that position that makes OJ Howard so valuable to this team right now. Especially with another proven and reliable pass catching TE (Brate) on the team along with the most talented group of WRs (top to bottom) in the league.
Here’s the real take away from this article:
“I see a tremendous opportunity for the Bucs to do well this year, despite what the odds say.”
August 27th, 2018 at 12:54 pm
Spot on Pickgrin… This dude is only going to get better and his ceiling is very high. Teams already fear his skills, once he gets that wisdom that is required of the TE position it’s over. NO ONE will want to face O.J. Howard in five years.
August 27th, 2018 at 1:06 pm
Giles was my favorite player as a kid and OJ does seem like the modern day version of him. This receiving talent on this team is downright awesome. We have to have the best recieving core in the league. If the line can hold up just a little and Barber remains effective (not expecting anything from ROJO at this point) they should be nearly impossible to defend.
August 27th, 2018 at 1:06 pm
Corp not core
August 27th, 2018 at 1:09 pm
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. One word:
Stud.
August 27th, 2018 at 1:22 pm
make the catch in practice and run to the end zone every time./ Jerry Rice did that same thing.
August 27th, 2018 at 1:29 pm
But….but…but we could have had Dalvin and his blown knee. (snark font off)
Just funnin’s few of our FSU faithful who seem to grip everytime we miss out on one of their stars.
BTW Nole fans I readily concede you guys HAVE turned a bunch of great players in the Jimbo era. I think you new coach will recruit every bit as well as Jimbo.
Taggart grew up playing in the middle of our state…he coached USF…he is WIRED INTO the Florida high schools. I do not expect FSU to miss a beat.
August 27th, 2018 at 1:42 pm
SPBF
Not saying ME is a “problem”
I can’t really figure out his game though. Not a burner. I guess more of a Vincent Jackson type. Big body, 50/50 ball guy. Gets separation, but he really does push off a lot, and a lot of those times he doesn’t really need to.
He makes crazy good acrobatic catches, (c’mon JW, make it easier), and to the point above he has no appreciable YAC, and comes out at least once every game because somebody drills him.
I think he’s a great player, don’t get me wrong. He just seems to me to have an unorthodox game.
August 27th, 2018 at 3:26 pm
Sure ME13 pushes off…..but it’s usually a push back after the defender has been all over him…..it’s almost an unfair matchup and I think the refs see it that way……so he gets flagged….perhaps OJ will be the same…..sucks.
August 27th, 2018 at 5:48 pm
JMark
I hear ya and agree. I too think ME is a great player but even great players are always looking for an edge…see Jimmy Giles remarks.
As far as trying to diminish Giles skills and Pro Bowls…(not you JMark) because he didn’t win a ring…as D.R. tries to continually point out…it’s a TEAM sport.
So if we believe Reality…here are some players who are not worth listening to because they never played in the big game…
Barry Sanders…1-5 lifetime in playoffs
Deacon Jones…0-2 lifetime in playoffs
Dick Butkus…0-0 in playoffs
Gale Sayers…0-0 in playoffs
O.J. Simpson…0-1 in playoffs.
There are PLENTY more…another common denominator for these guys is that all of them are in the HOF.
Imagine putting these players down like Reality because they never got to the big game and in fact two of the best never even made the playoffs and OJ just played in one loss.
What a lineup of bad players eh?
August 27th, 2018 at 7:33 pm
What a class guy ole jimmy is
August 27th, 2018 at 9:57 pm
It does seem like OJ goes down easier than he should as a big guy.