Fantasy Football Player Notes

Naturally, we should've expected some rust on Gronkowski after taking a year off football. He was a bit slot out of the gate, but was ultimately able to finish as the No. 8 tight end in 2020. That's not a huge accomplishment or anything, as he still failed to record more than 48 yards in 11-of-16 games, and that's despite Chris Godwin missing time to injury, and Antonio Brown not joining the team until midseason. We also can't forget about O.J. Howard, who had more production and targets than Gronkowski when he tore his Achilles. Gronkowski will certainly offer some streamable weeks, but relying on him as your every-week tight end would be a mistake with all the mouths they have to feed in Tampa Bay.

We barely got to see Tom Brady toss the ball to Howard in 2020, but what we did see was Howard out-producing Rob Gronkowski. It's easy to forget that Howard was supposed to be the next big thing at tight end, similar to how people feel about Kyle Pitts today. Early reports out of Bucs camp suggest Howard is being flexed as a receiver and that Brady sees him as a legit threat in the passing game. With Gronkowski getting up there in age/bumps/bruises, we could see Howard finally take the step many thought he would years ago. Best of all, you'll find out for free.