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Houston Texans tight end O.J. Howard had a terrific opening week performance. The former Alabama star scored 17.8 PPR fantasy points, making him one of the top scoring tight ends in Week 1.
While he had a strong performance last week, Howard has never been a fantasy-relevant player. The six-year tight end scored 33.5 PPR fantasy points in 2021 and 37.6 in 2020. Thus, he scored roughly half that many fantasy points in Week 1.
Howard has bounced around the NFL over the past year. He spent the first five years of his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after they used the 19th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft on him. Howard signed with the Buffalo Bills in the offseason but got released during their roster cut down earlier this month. Shortly after his release, the veteran tight end joined the Texans.
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Should I Pickup O.J. Howard After Scoring Twice In Week 1?
The answer is no unless you play in a deep or two-tight end league. Howard had a very fluky game. He had two targets and played only 12 offensive snaps. Furthermore, he ran a route on half of his snaps.
Every year, we get a surprise tight end performance in Week 1. Last year, Juwan Johnson caught all three of his targets for 21 yards and scored two touchdowns. He ended that Week as the TE5, scoring 17.1 PPR fantasy points. However, Johnson averaged 2.8 fantasy points per game for the rest of the season.
Who Should I Pickup At Tight End for Week 2?
Instead of adding Howard off the waiver wire, consider David Njoku, Hayden Hurst, and Gerald Everett. All three are rostered in under 50% of ESPN leagues. They all have an easier pathway to a top-12 finish than Howard. Furthermore, Hurst and Everett have a much better quarterback throwing them the ball.
Even Howard’s teammate, Brevin Jordan, is a better waiver wire target. He played 42 snaps compared to 12 for Howard and ran three times as many routes.
Don’t get caught by the flashy Week 1 numbers. Let one of your league mates add him off the waiver wire.
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