Examining ways the Alabama Crimson Tide can get O.J. Howard more involved

As is the case with supporters of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, they tend to be fairly hard to please.

And who can blame them?

When your team has the very best coaching staff, personnel, schemes, uniforms, cheerleaders and writers (**clears throat**), being hard to please just comes with the territory.

The latest conundrum involves the lack of touches for Bama’s future all-world tight end O.J. Howard in new offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin’s modernized West Coast offensive scheme.

Forget that Bama is 2-0 — despite being bogged down with a quarterback battle (click here to read my breakdown of the competition) — and is breaking in a new system on offense (and tweaking the defensive philosophy). Furthermore, it’s attempting to replace two of the greatest players in the program’s history, QB A.J. McCarron and inside linebacker C.J. Mosley, after the pair was lost to graduation.

Not to mention that both of the aforementioned QBs vying for the starting job have looked pretty good, you know, considering Kiffin was branded as a failure by critics and pundits alike due to his previous stops not ending the way he would’ve liked.

The run game has looked outstanding — as we’ve come to expect — and receiver Amari Cooper (25 catches for 319 yards with one touchdowns) is on pace to have the best season the program has ever seen.

So what gives?

Bama fans are savvy enough to know that when the team enters the meat of the schedule, which begins Week 4 against a formidable Florida Gators’ defense, Howard’s production will be a necessity rather than a desire.

So Kiffin has one more week to integrate Howard into the offense against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, or the rumble will turn into a full-on roar.

Background

At first glance it seems as though Howard would be a perfect fit for Kiffin’s rhythm-and-timing offensive structure. At 6’6″, 250 pounds, running a reported 4.4 40-yard dash, you would think it would be easy to get him the ball and have him turn a short catch into an explosive play like the scheme calls for.

In fact, with QB Blake Sims’ propensity for throws in the short-to-intermediate area you would think Howard’s season would be mirroring Cooper’s.

But with exactly zero catches to his credit, Howard’s season is looking a lot like ours!

It’s not like Howard has been provided a ton of opportunities, either. He had one blatant target which resulted in Sims’ only interception of the season — and egregious one at that — against West Virginia in the season-opening win.

I wholeheartedly believe that Kiffin suggested Sims look at Howard, on this particular play, as he wasn’t forcing throws prior to this one. Against Cover 3, which can sometimes look like Cover-1 man, Sims tried to force it to Howard on a seam route.

Since the corner is actually playing zone, he’s in position to peel off his area assignment and assist on the seam route. Before this particular sequence, Howard didn’t have one target.

Just as we were all sitting at home thinking how it was the fourth quarter and Howard hadn’t been targeted to that point, I’m pretty sure Kiffin — and head coach Nick Saban — was thinking the same thing.

So all parties involved tried to make something happened when it just wasn’t there — and the Tide paid for the overzealousness.

The other notable time Howard came into the picture was on a quick slant in the money zone.

This time the QB was Jacob Coker; he should’ve let the pass go in anticipation of Howard breaking open in the void of the coverage. Howard could’ve helped him out by attacking the route with vigor, initially, and he also could’ve snapped off the break in his route more crisper.

But this may be what is holding Howard back in a rhythm-and-timing offense: route-running ability.

Cooper being the favorite target of both QBs should come as no surprise. He is the very best route-runner I’ve ever seen on film. He understands depth, and he’s virtually perfect in the transition phase of his route.

The future top-10 pick can be counted on to be exactly where he needs to be at exactly the time you need him to be there. And for inexperienced QBs there’s comfort in knowing that. Especially if you’re in a competition and want to put your best foot forward as these QBs do.

Last year, the majority of Howard’s routes consisted of crossing patterns and slants.

Case in point: Howard caught this slant and took it to the house from the “X” receiver position. Do you understand the words that I’m typing here? Bama’s 250-pound tight end took a slant 52 yards to paydirt playing a position Cooper would normally play!

That’s almost unheard of; he outran some of the best players in the entire SEC in LSU’s secondary. It’s almost as if he’s more effective as a receiver, opposed to the in-line tight end Kiffin’s scheme requires.

But that characteristic could work to Kiffin’s benefit…

Getting Creative With Howard

It’s very clear that Kiffin has installed a very physical scheme as he’s run predominately “12” and “21 personnel.” Howard and fellow tight end Brian Vogler have still been a very big part of the offense due to being used as extra blockers.

It’s clear that Kiffin wanted to turn Howard into a complete tight end, and it has shown up on film.

If Kiffin were to use a three-tight end set, with transfer Ty Flournoy-Smith now on the roster, Howard could kick out to split end and be used as an “X” receiver with Cooper doing his thing on the other side.

Bama would still have its extra blockers and Howard’s speed would be on display with more room to operate on the outside.

This play reminds me of Howard every time I see the Denver Broncos run it. We already know Kiffin is a master of the screen game, so implementing a play like this wouldn’t take him breaking a sweat.

Broncos’ receiver Demaryius Thomas originally lines up at fullback then is motioned out wide to a trips-left set. From there, QB Peyton Manning executes a masterful play-action fake which draws attention away from the outside.

With a convoy of blockers in front of him, Thomas is allowed to use his speed and open-field running prowess to generate an explosive play. We could easily see Bama doing with this as Howard originally being in the backfield would make sense as he’s a tight end by trade.

And seeing that 88 jersey number catching the ball with that much space sends chills down my spine. It would send chills down opposing defensive coordinator’s spines as well — as they’d be paralyzed by fear.

Kiffin should also send Howard on reverses just to get the ball in his hands. Howard should touch the ball at least five times per contest as he’s just too great of a weapon to be used for blocking purposes only.

I have complete faith that Kiffin will unleash Howard in time for the meat of Bama’s schedule.

Make it happen, Coach Kiffin.

Murf Baldwin

Former linebacker/safety Murf Baldwin specializes in diving deep into the Xs and Os of the game with the goal of educating and entertaining while bringing fans closer to their team.