Jordan Howard is a mystery. Not because he’s hard to read or anything. More like his playing style is tough to pin down. On the surface, it seems like a simple read. He’s a big, bruising back that tramples defenders. Except that’s not true at all. Howard is no Jim Brown. His game, like predecessor Matt Forte, is somewhat unique.
It took people time to figure out what Forte was. He wasn’t a home run hitter or a power back. It became apparent he was a slashing runner with smooth acceleration and outstanding ability as a receiver out of the backfield. After a second-straight Pro Bowl and becoming the first Bears back to ever post 1,000 yards in his first two years? Howard’s ability is coming into view.
There is no doubt he is a strong back. Getting him on the ground was a chore for defenses in 2017. He broke 42 tackles. This despite constantly facing eight or nine-man boxes. Yet it wasn’t just power that enabled him to do this. Experts soon began to see that despite being a bigger guy, he was actually difficult to get a hand on.
Jordan Howard ranks among NFL best at elusiveness
Matt Harmon of NFL.com did a rundown of every notable running back in the league after the season trying to determine who the most “elusive” ones were. That is to say, the backs who managed to create yards of their own skill rather than blocking. This was done by tracking data determining when they had defenders within a yard of them. Howard? He came out looking like a champ, ranking fourth overall in the league.
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“Howard followed up his excellent rookie season with yet another 1,000-yard rushing campaign in 2017. He’s a tough back to bring down when he gets rolling. Howard gained an average of 4.06 yards after defenders closed within 1 yard of him. He was also a top performer in this metric in 2016, as his 4.64 yards gained after close-ranked first among backs with over 175 carries.
The Bears hired former Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy to take over as their head coach this offseason. While Howard doesn’t come with the receiving chops of some of the backs featured in Nagy’s Kansas City offenses, Chicago’s new coach will no doubt look to keep the bruising Howard in place as the scoring attack’s identity.”
Howard gained 4.06 yards after contact
There is no question the Bears likely wouldn’t have had an offense if it weren’t for Howard. In total the team gained 4,599 yards of total offense last season. Howard accounted 1,247 of it or 27.1%. He also scored six more touchdowns than the next closest Bears player (Tarik Cohen and Adam Shaheen). He was the man.
No doubt the Bears are anxious to maximize that skill however they can. The easiest way would be to elevate Mitch Trubisky at quarterback. That’s why they hired Matt Nagy as head coach. If Trubisky ascends, it will force defenses to remove extra defenders from the tackle box. If Howard got 1,000 yards against eight-man fronts, imagine what he can do against five or six. His elusive ranking would almost certainly rise.
