O.J.Howard

News: 6 days agoHoward (Achilles) was participating at Friday's practice, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com reports.

Spin: The 26-year-old took things easy for the few days of camp as he makes his return from the ruptured Achilles he suffered in Week 4 last year, but he's practicing for the first time Friday. Howard appeared to be taking part in some 11-on-11 work, which signals he's on track to be available for the start of the regular season in early September.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Rob Gronkowski gets the headlines, but it was O.J. Howard who paced the Buccaneers' TE room in passing-game usage and fantasy production prior to a season-ending injury in Week 4. Despite Gronkowski playing more snaps (212 to 125) and running more routes (87 to 58), Howard out-targeted him 19 to 14. Howard posted a 11-146-2 receiving line (fantasy TE17), compared to 9-88-0 (TE36) for Gronkowski. Howard's aDOT was a career-high 11.6, which is notable considering he ranked no lower than third in the category during each of his first three NFL seasons. Howard has yet to complete a 16-game regular season in his career, missing at least two games all four years, but his start to 2020 makes the 26-year-old an interesting sleeper.