O.J. Howard Fantasy

Houston Texans tight end O.J. Howard (hip), who was listed as questionable for Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, has officially been ruled out for the regular season finale. It's a bit surprising that he's not active after returning to a full practice on Friday, but the Texans have decided to keep him out in a meaningless game. The 28-year-old finishes his first year in Houston with a career-low 10 receptions on 23 targets for 145 yards and two touchdowns in 13 games played (10 starts). With Howard out, Jordan Akins and Brevin Jordan will split the pass-catching duties at the position for the Texans, but neither of them are particularly attractive streaming options in fantasy at the position as the Texans play out the string.

Jan. 8th • 11:54 AM

Houston Texans running back Rex Burkhead (concussion) and tight end O.J. Howard are inactive for Week 13 against the Cleveland Browns. Burkhead will miss his first game of the year while dealing with a head injury, while Howard is a healthy scratch for this one. Rookie Dameon Pierce will continue to lead this backfield and will be looking to break out of a recent slump in a good matchup. Enjo Benjamin and Dare Ogunbowale will see expanded roles behind Pierce with Burkhead sidelined on Sunday. Howard played a season-low 16 percent of the offensive snaps in Week 12 and finds himself on the bench this weekend. Jordan Akins should be the Texans' top pass-catching tight end against Cleveland.

Dec. 4th • 12:05 PM

Houston Texans tight end O.J. Howard was targeted a season-high five times last week against the Chargers, but he brought in just two of those for 27 yards. After catching two touchdowns in the opener against the Colts, Howard has just three receptions since. With Jordan Akins taking targets away from him, Howard's role is too tentative to consider him as a fantasy option against the Jaguars on Sunday. Jacksonville allows the eighth-fewest fantasy points per game to tight ends.

Oct. 7th • 11:21 AM