The Chicago Bears, and their fans, are incredibly excited about the potential in former-rookie running back Jordan Howard. The fifth-round selection, out of Indiana, finished the season second in rushing and he only had 252 carries averaging 5.2 yard per. That total was better than Ezekiel Elliott, the NFL’s leading rusher, who carved defenses up for 5.1 yards per carry on 322 total attempts.
Originally expected to split carries with Jeremy Langford, Howard quickly rose to the top of Chicago’s depth chart and stayed there. On his way to breaking Matt Forte’s franchise rookie rushing record, Howard finished the season strong with two 100 yard games and had seven total. He also chipped in seven touchdowns and only fumbled the ball twice.
During the 2016 draft, Howard was said to be just like Arian Foster who was his official profile comparison. Scouted to have great vision and the ability to run through arm tacklers, Howard was considered one of the “most pure running backs” in the entire draft class. One of the biggest differences between Howard, the 150th overall pick, and Elliott, the fourth overall pick, was speed. At the NFL combine Elliott turned in a 4.47 second 40 yard dash which was over a tenth of a second faster than Howard’s 4.59….
But, remember that whole pure running back thing we were talking about? NFL.com recently revealed something truly amazing about Howard’s performance last season.
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