Small school offensive tackle visiting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers add another player to their list of official visits as they bring Alabama State’s Tytus Howard in for a closer look.

With less than three weeks until the 2019 NFL Draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have kept themselves busy on this Monday. On the same day Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Marquise Brown is visiting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Alabama State’s offensive tackle Tytus Howard is coming to town as well.

The 6’5 and 322 pound tackle has seen his draft stock rise since the end of February and now it is unlikely that Howard falls any further than the second day of the draft.
Although Howard is from a small school, he has used the Senior Bowl and the combine to his advantage now finds himself taking top-30 visits with teams hoping that he could anchor their offensive lines for years to come.

At the combine, Howard ran a 5.05 40 yard dash, with a 2.97 20 yard split, both times ranking him as elite for his position. In addition, Howard showed good explosion by nearly missing the 30 inch mark on his vertical and hitting over eight feet on his broad jump.

While it has seemed all offseason that the Buccaneers would not look to improve their offensive line any further, they have now brought in Howard as well as Oklahoma’s offensive tackle Cody Ford in for visits. However, the odd commonality here is both prospects brought in are tackles while the Bucs’ hole along their offensive line is at right guard.

After drafting Alex Cappa in the third round a year ago, it looks like the Buccaneers will give him every opportunity to win the starting job at right guard after moving Caleb Benenoch to tackle after struggling along the interior in 2018. It appears that Tampa Bay may be looking for the heir apparent to Demar Dotson rather than a guard, and they may be looking to snag him earlier than anticipated.

While fans are screaming for the hole at right guard to be filled during the draft, the Buccaneers appear to be more concerned with replacing their long-time right tackle in Dotson after his contract expires at the end of the 2019 season. Howard presents an interesting option for the Buccaneers if he is available with the 107th pick.