O.J. Howard, TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Chris Godwin, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
So perhaps we are bending the rules here a bit, but bear with me.
Tom Brady is taking his talents south, joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Two players who stand to benefit greatly from this move are tight end O.J. Howard and receiver Chris Godwin.
Think back to Brady’s time in New England. Two positions were heavily targeted by the veteran passer during his time in Foxborough: The tight end, and the slot receiver. That leads us to these two players.
We can start with Howard. Tight end have not, historically, been huge pieces of a Bruce Arians offense. Last year Howard saw 53 targets – which was a career high – but he had 34 receptions for 459 and just a single touchdown. His yards per reception fell from 16.6 (which it was for both of his first two years in the league) down to 13.5, and his yards per target cratered from 11.8 last year to just 8.7. But Brady loves to throw to the tight ends, even when Rob Gronkowski is no longer there. Even last year, with New England having a black hole at the tight end position, Brady targeted them 54 times.
Then there is Godwin, who spent 62.6 percent of his snaps in the slot last year. We all know what slot receivers have meant to Brady over the years, from Wes Welker to Julian Edelman. Now Godwin is likely to assume that mantle. A year ago Godwin saw 121 targets in just 14 games, up from 95 in 2018. Edelman? He saw 153 last year, 108 (in just 12 games) in 2018, and 159 in 2017. Godwin is going to see a ton of targets as well.
And now both of these players are going to have the greatest quarterback of all time throwing to them.