I would be a little nervous about Jordan Howard. He’s one of the better power runners – a big, physical guy who’s been productive – but I don’t know that he’s a great fit with Chicago’s new offense.
Matt Nagy comes from the Andy Reid family of coaches, so I would think he’s more partial to those kind of backs – Jamaal Charles, LeSean McCoy, etc. I would think he would prefer backs who can both run and catch, maybe with some speed to pop outside.
Howard isn’t that kind of back. He’s a between-the-tackles banger.
I saw a blurb go by last week where Nagy was saying how impressed he’s been by Tarik Cohen.
“He’s actually the one kid on this team that I knew had a lot of talent, but he comes out here and runs every route the right way, catches most balls and he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes,” Nagy said at the team’s OTAs. “He’s a player you get giddy about.”
I’m not saying Cohen will move into the starting lineup anytime soon. He’s tiny. And he was way too unpolished last year, losing yards on 26 percent of his carries. You may have seen the factoid I posted a month or two back, where I outlined that he was the worst yardage loser in about 10 years.
And Howard ain’t chopped liver. But this is a deal where it could become more of a committee in a hurry, with Cohen on the field maybe 40 percent of the time. If the Bears fall behind by a couple of scores, Cohen could become their primary back, running draws and catching dumpoff passes.
Howard’s most troubling flaws are in the passing game. He can’t catch worth a lick, and those plays can be killers. In their opener against Atlanta last year, for example, he dropped what would have been the game-winning touchdown pass in the final minute (as shown in the photo with this story).
That wasn’t an isolated play. That’s just kind of who he is. Over the last two years, 42 running backs has had at least 50 passes thrown their way. Howard ranks last in that group, dropping passes more than twice as often as anyone else.
I’m not trying to dump on Howard. He’s a nice player, and I think you’ll see him putting up good rushing numbers for the next few years. Somewhere. But I’m not sure he fits in great with this offense – won’t do much as a pass catcher and could be dialed back into a part-time role.
| RUNNING BACKS DROPS (2016-17) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Rec | Drop | Pct |
| Lamar Miller | 67 | 0 | .0% |
| Charcandrick West | 55 | 0 | .0% |
| Christian McCaffrey | 80 | 1 | 1.2% |
| Kyle Juszczyk | 70 | 1 | 1.4% |
| Ty Montgomery | 67 | 1 | 1.5% |
| Devontae Booker | 61 | 1 | 1.6% |
| Charles Sims | 59 | 1 | 1.7% |
| James White | 116 | 2 | 1.7% |
| Tarik Cohen | 53 | 1 | 1.9% |
| DeMarco Murray | 92 | 2 | 2.1% |
| Chris Thompson | 88 | 2 | 2.2% |
| David Johnson | 86 | 2 | 2.3% |
| Todd Gurley | 107 | 3 | 2.7% |
| Duke Johnson | 127 | 4 | 3.1% |
| Ezekiel Elliott | 58 | 2 | 3.3% |
| LeSean McCoy | 109 | 4 | 3.5% |
| Alvin Kamara | 81 | 3 | 3.6% |
| Kareem Hunt | 53 | 2 | 3.6% |
| Mark Ingram | 104 | 4 | 3.7% |
| Latavius Murray | 48 | 2 | 4.0% |
| Jerick McKinnon | 94 | 4 | 4.1% |
| Frank Gore | 67 | 3 | 4.3% |
| Theo Riddick | 106 | 5 | 4.5% |
| Bilal Powell | 81 | 4 | 4.7% |
| Tevin Coleman | 58 | 3 | 4.9% |
| Shane Vereen | 55 | 3 | 5.2% |
| LeVeon Bell | 160 | 9 | 5.3% |
| Melvin Gordon | 99 | 6 | 5.7% |
| Javorius Allen | 49 | 3 | 5.8% |
| T.J. Yeldon | 80 | 5 | 5.9% |
| Devonta Freeman | 90 | 6 | 6.3% |
| Travaris Cadet | 56 | 4 | 6.7% |
| Giovani Bernard | 82 | 6 | 6.8% |
| Isaiah Crowell | 68 | 5 | 6.8% |
| Andre Ellington | 51 | 4 | 7.3% |
| DeAndre Washington | 51 | 4 | 7.3% |
| Darren Sproles | 59 | 5 | 7.8% |
| Jalen Richard | 56 | 5 | 8.2% |
| Matt Forte | 67 | 6 | 8.2% |
| Carlos Hyde | 86 | 8 | 8.5% |
| Jay Ajayi | 51 | 5 | 8.9% |
| Jordan Howard | 52 | 12 | 18.8% |
—Ian Allan