Notable 2017 Numbers:** We noted the Bucs' combined tight end totals above, most of which was provided by Brate and Howard. To be specific, Brate caught 48 passes for 591 yards and six touchdowns to lead that group, which was a near duplication of his breakout 57-660-8 line from the year before. It's notable that Brate's production only dipped a bit despite the addition of Howard, who was a lock to take away some of his targets.

Howard caught 26 passes for 432 yards and six scores of his own. His most notable number was his average of 16.6 yards per catch, which led all Buccaneer players, wideouts included, who caught at least 10 passes. In fact, across the entire NFL, no tight end who caught at least 20 passes in 2017 had a better yards-per-reception mark than Howard, who proved that part of his sparkling scouting report true right away. He definitely has the speed to exploit mismatches and can work the seams downfield.

That scouting report also suggested that Howard could dominate as a blocker in the NFL and thus develop into that rare commodity of a true all-around "Y" tight end. The Buccaneers do believe he possesses that talent, but Howard is going to have to put in more work to bring them out. There's little doubt he will put in the effort.

"He is his own biggest critic," said Steele, who noted that Howard studies film and makes a point of pinpointing his own shortcomings before coming to his coach for help. "He is a guy that is super humble and he knows the stuff that he needs to get done. Now it's those details. He's a guy that he's athletic enough to get away with using bad technique, but at the end of the day, that stuff is going to catch up to him. He's got to fine tune his details and he's got to get more efficient with his footwork and his hands, crisper routes and that is the stuff that we are working on now and I am excited to see where he's going to go with that."

Howard missed the last two games of the season with an ankle injury but he surpassed 50 yards in three of his last five outings. In the first nine games of the season, he had contributed some big plays and even had a 98-yard, two-touchdown performance in Buffalo, but he also had long stretches where the ball didn't find him. Steele shared that he had told Howard that "the great ones show up every day," and Howard was receptive to the message.

"So, [it's] not just making a play here, it's got to be consistent," said Steele. "Every single day that you're in there, it's got to be consistent. A great quarterback has to have a feeling where we're at. So, when those guys are working reps after practice, Jameis knows where they're going to be. Cam obviously has benefitted from those extra reps and then O.J.'s been out there too with him, so it's been good."

Key Question: Can the Buccaneers produce better results on the ground out of the two-TE set?

There are plenty of obvious concerns here, even with such a talented group. Can Brate avoid some of the many hard hits he took last year, which kept him from playing at full strength at time? Will Howard take the expected next step towards stardom in his second year? How much playing time will there be for the promising Auclair of Brate and Howard remain healthy?

The question we've chosen here, though, could be of hidden importance. Last year, in the 14 games in which they both played, Brate and Howard were on the field at the same time for an average of about 13 snaps per game. That works out to about a fifth of a typical number of plays in a single game, which is right around league average for two-TE plays. And, in fact, with Auclair getting snaps of his own, the Bucs' percentage of two-TE plays was actually a bit higher.

Still, this seems like an approach the Bucs could use even more often in order to make their intentions harder for opposing defenses to diagnose. If Brate and Howard are again two of the team's more dynamic offensive weapons, the Bucs will surely look for ways to maximize their input. That could involve having them both on the field more often.