Jordan Howard will enter the 2019 NFL season with a ton to prove and competition at the running back spot after the Philadelphia Eagles invested a second-round pick into Miles Sanders. Howard was traded away from Chicago after he was phased out of the Bears passing game.
Howard has a chance to become a bell-cow running back for the Eagles and give the team a presence at running back the NFC East hasn’t seen here since Shady McCoy. Since 2016, Howard ranks 3rd in the league in total rushing yards after contact.
With Howard in the fold, NFL.com named him the Eagles newcomer to watch this season.
Newcomer/player returning from injury to watch: Jordan Howard, running back. This could be Howard or rookie running back Miles Sanders, whom the Eagles drafted in the second round out of Penn State. Both are new faces in Philly, replacing the departed Jay Ajayi as potential bell cows in the backfield. The Eagles struggled on the ground last year without the injured Ajayi and the departed LeGarrette Blount, instead relying on undrafted rookie Josh Adams to pace the club with 511 rushing yards. That won’t be enough to see Philly retake the East in 2019. But is the addition of Howard a quick fix? The former Bears back is coming off his third — and least impressive — campaign and was deemed expendable in Chicago because of his one-dimensionality. Will Howard be an every-down back or a one-trick Eagle in Philly, which boasts a deep-enough RB corps that he need not tote the rock 250 times, as he did in the Windy City? Acquiring Howard was a low-risk move by the shrewd Howie Roseman, but the future of the position might rest on younger legs (re: Sanders).
Howard has the chance to be special here in Philadelphia. In 47 career games — 44 of them starts — Howard has 778 carries, 3,370 rushing yards, 24 rushing touchdowns, 72 receptions, 568 receiving yards and one receiving score. If he can integrate himself into the passing game, he could challenge for a rushing title.
