For most of the 2016 season, running back Jordan Howard was about the old good thing about the Chicago Bears. Watching this organization fall into such a state of decay and disrepair over the course of a decade was beyond difficult. Watching Howard emerge to become the focal point of the offense was a nice silver lining if nothing else.
To think he was a castoff from the now defunct University of Alabama-Birmingham football program is hard to imagine. It almost looked like the NFL wasn’t even in the cards for him. Then he transferred to Indiana, put up a good season and became a fifth round pick for the Bears in the draft. Now he’s considered one of the rising stars in the league.
His value to the franchise doesn’t stop with that though. Howard is a gifted young man in terms of physical skill. Big, strong, great vision, and deceptively athlete. Those are of course vital to his continued individual success. That said it’s not what makes him great for the team. Those attributes lay elsewhere, and are growing in scope every day.
